Discovery of lakes Rudolf and Stefanie; a narrative of Count Samuel Teleki's exploring & hunting expedition in eastern equatorial Africa in 1887 & 1888

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PORTRAIT OF COUNT SAMUEL TELEKI VON SZEK.

DISCOVERY

LAKES RUDOLF AND STEFANIE

A NARRATIVE OF COUNT SAMUEL TELEKI?’S
EXPLORING & HUNTING EXPEDITION IN EASTERN EQUATORIAL AFRICA
IN 1887 & 1888

BY His: COMPANION

LIEUT. LUDWIG VON HOHNEL

'aar

TRANSLATED BY NANCY BELL (N. DANVERS)

AUTHOR OF ‘THE ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF ART’ ‘ART GUIDE 'O EUROPE’
‘HEROES OF AFRICAN DISCOVERY’ ETC.

WITH 179 ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND 5 COLOURED MAPS

IN TWO VOLUMES—VOL. I.

K< 4 re8e

LONDON

HONGMANS, GREEN, AND
AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16" STREQT

1894

All rights reserved

TO

HIS IMPERIAL AND ROYAL APOSTOLIC MAJESTY

FRANCIS JOSEPH I.
EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA, KING OF HUNGARY, &c.

THIS ACCOUNT OF
THE DISCOVERY OF LAKES RUDOLF AND STEFANIE
IS DEDICATED WITH DEEPEST RESPECT

BY
THE AUTHOR

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE

Iv publishing this slightly condensed translation of Lieutenant
von HOHNEL’s deeply interesting account of his journey with
Count TELEKI in Eastern Equatorial Africa, the translator
wishes to thank Mr. Grorce Puinip, jun. for the valuable help
given by him throughout the work, especially in the scientific
appendix, and Miss EH. Frosr for the good Indices supplied

by her.

NANCY BELL (N. D’Anvers).

SOUTHBOURNE-ON-SEA: September 1893

HP le BY ACC

Tue following account of the exploring and hunting expedition
of Count Samuel Teleki von Szek during 1887 and 1888 in
Eastern Equatorial Africa is written for the general reading
public, and deals rather with the adventures and experiences
met with, than with the scientific observations taken. The
results of these observations are given in different separate
treatises and in various scientific journals, which may be looked
upon as supplementary to the present volume.

I must, however, be allowed to express here my deep grati-
tude to the distinguished patrons and sympathetic friends who
did so much to further the success of our undertaking, and
above all to His Excellency Admiral Maximilian Daublebsky,
Baron von Sterneck zu Ehrenstein, for the loan of valuable
scientific instruments; to His Excellency the German Vice-
Admiral Baron von Knorr, then commanding a squadron in
Kast African waters, for his influential furtherance of our
wishes; to General Lloyd Matthews in Zanzibar for his
thorough and efficient co-operation at the beginning of our

enterprise ; to the German Consul in Aden, Mr. Victor Escher,

X11 PREFACE

for his hospitality and assistance before we began and after we
returned from our long expedition; to the alas! since deceased
Mr. William Oswald, then Consul in Zanzibar, whose influence
and experience were ever at our service and of the greatest
assistance to us; to the then Assistant Resident in Aden, Lieu-
tenant-Col. Fred. M. Hunter, and Dr. Gregory d’Arbela in Zan-
zibar, for their ready co-operation ; and last, not least, to the
Lloyd’s East African Steamship Company for the many privi-
leges accorded by them to us in the transport of our stores, &c.,
from Trieste to Aden.

To which I must add my own deep personal gratitude to
Messrs. A. Mielichhofer and Ludwig Hans Fischer, to whose
disinterested and unremitting co-operation | owe the greater

number of the illustrations in these two volumes.

THE AUTHOR:

Vienna: May 1892.

i ali eis =
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CON WN TS

OF

ie ao Ve Ou UvER,

CHAPTER I

PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

PAGKH
Introductory remarks on the Expedition—W. Oswald and G. Dehnhardt—
Arrival in Zanzibar—General L. W. Matthews—First shauré or discussion
with Jumbe Kimemeta—Issa ben Madi—Arrival of the Bwana mkubwa,

or Great Master—The Sultan gives us audience—Dr. Gregory d’Arbela
Our day’s work—Admiral Knorr—Arrival of Drs. Junker and Lenz—
Qualla Idris—Purchase and packing of merchandise—Hiring of porters—
Zanzibari and Mrima—Guides and Askari—Start from Zanzibar—Strand-

ing of the ‘ Star’ off Pangani—The start up-stream . ‘ < «ll

ORE PEs Ul

FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

Start from Mawia—The march interrupted by an attack from bees—Mutinous
scene at Leva—I go back to Zanzibar—Our books and maps are stolen—
Kimemeta arrested for debt—-March to Korogwe—The battle of Kwa
Mgumi—The Count starts for Sembodja, whilst I follow the course of the
Pangani—Mafi—Sultan Sedenga—Further wanderings—We meet again
at Mikocheni—Count Teleki’s account of his adventures—We part again—
Character of the districts south of Pangani—I make acquaintance with
an African thorn thicket—The Wapare—A ‘nyika’ district described—My
first leopard—Along the base of the Pare and Same mountains—I join
Count Teleki again—-His adventures amongst the Masai—First sight of
Kilimanjaro—Arrival at Taveta : ‘ : . 388

X1V CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME

CHAPTER III

STAY IN TAVETA AND TRIPS TO MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU
PAGE
Taveta an El Dorado—Meeting with an English hunting party—Hut-building
and life in camp—Our ape Hamis—The Wataveta—Qualla Idris—The
wild animals of the forest—Two caravans return to the coast—We start
for Mount Meru—Rhinoceros hunt—Three days on Kilimanjaro—Along
the base of Kilimanjaro to Mount Meru—Further hunting adventures—
Meeting with Masai—By the Engilata—Weather conditions and state of
the road in the rainy season—Buffalo hunt—First acquaintance with the
Wameru—We make peace—Life among the Wameru—Lake Balbal—
Sultan Matunda—On the Dariama—Across the Ronga to Little Arusha—
Kahe—Back again at Taveta-—Overhauling of our stores—A hunting
expedition—Start for the ascent of Kilimanjaro—A night with the thermo-
meter at — 11° Centigrade—Attempt to ascend Kibo—-Return to Taveta—
The start for Masailand é ' : : : . 94

CHAPTER IV

THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYULAND

We leave Taveta—Along the eastern base of Kilimanjaro—-The crater lake of
Jala—aA fugitive caught and punished—Hunting adventure—Kimangelia
—Count Teleki goes on in advance—His adventures—Malago Kanga—
Amongst the Masai—Lake Nyiri—Buffalo hunting—-Cattle disease in
Masailand—The steppe on the north of Kilimanjaro—Some account of the
Masai—At the foot of the Doenye Erok la Matumbato—Hunting episode—
On the Ngare Kidongoi—The Wandorobbo—Trading in ivory—The water-
holes of Seki—Tricks of the Masai—Another buffalo hunt—On the Besil
brook—To Turuka—Adventure with elephants—A lon hunt—-A dreary
time—Over the Doenye Erok la Kapotei—The poisonous Morio tree—
Arrival at Ngongo Bagas : : , : , : . 206

CHAPTER V

TO KENIA

The reputation of the Wakikuyu—Making our palisade—Antics of the Masai—
We open relations with the Wakikuyu—Making brotherhood—We cross
the frontrer—Shauri to weleome us—Kutire kimandaja—An uncomfort-
able camp—Our mode of travelling—A shauri about rain-making—Oriov
muma—Difficulties of marching in Kikuyuland—Onur first fight—We make
peace—A day of rest—Renewed hostilities—A fight amongst the Wakikuyu
themselves—F alse rnmours—A dangerous brook-crossing—A second fight
—March across Kikuyuland—First sight of Kenia—Want of union amongst
the Wakikuyu—Our third fight—Abedi’s tragic death—On the northern
frontier—Our journey in Kikuyuland over at last—March to Ndoro—
General account of the Wakikuyu and their land. : ; . 286

CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME XV

CHAPTER VI

STAY AT NDORO. ASCENT OF MOUNT KENIA. JOURNEY THROUGH
LEIKIPIA AND TRIP TO LAKE BARINGO
PAGE
A quiet time at the foot of Mount Kenia—A Kikuyu Leibon—Purchase of food
—We get more rain than we want—The Count starts for Mount Kenia
Result of rain on the appearance of the country—Count Teleki’s ascent of
Kenia—My trip to the bamboo thicket—Four lions—Our further plans—
Count Teleki goes on in advance—A false alarm—We meet on the Guaso
Nyiro—Along the Aberdare mountains—Masai on the war-path—Nomad
Masai—On the Marmanett mountains—To Larelol Morio—Lekibes, Leibon
of Leikipia—Division of the Expedition—Along the Guaso Nyiro—Return
to Lare—My march to Lake Baringo—First sight of the lake—Bad news. 3862

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

IN

THE FIRST VOLUME

PAGE
Portrait oF CoUNT SAMUEL TELEKI VON SZEK ; - Hrontisprece
JUMBE Kimemeta. After a photograph . : : , : ea
QuaLta Ipris. After a photograph . : ; ; : Seite! |
WEEDING OUT THE Sick AND Weak. By A. Mielichhefer , Bary
EMBARKATION OF OUR MEN. After a photograph . : ; Sanam
Paneani. After a photograph . : , , é : . 24
THE GLITTERING ATTRACTIONS OF Mammon. By A. Mielichhofer eee et
Division oF THE Loaps. By A. Mielichhofer . : : : eo
Our Canvas Boat on THE Marcu. After a photograph . : cheat OO
AT THE H&rAD OF THE CARAVAN. After a photograph. , : . 389
‘Srr, PEOPLE WANT TO Camp.’ By A. Mrelichhofer : ; ee te? oA)
Mutinous Scene at Leva. By A. Mielichhofer : : : . 47
FLoGGING THE FuaiTives ar Paneant. By A, Mielichhofer : er
THE PUNISHMENT OF CHAINING TOGETHER. By A. Mielichhofer ° ct OF
My First Hippopotamus. By A. Mielichhofer _. ‘ . edo OD
ASS WITH LADEN Pack-saDDLE. By A. Mielichhofer . : = 65
OUT CAME A FINE LropaRD. By A. Mielichhofer . : : paar
ARISTOLOCHIA SP. After a photograph . ; : . : etsy
THE REARGUARD OF THE CARAVAN. After a photograph . : byt EO
Euanps. After a photograph . : : ; : : 5 el
ONE OF THE ENTRANCES TO TaveTa. By A. Mteltchhofer 5 Meee d

VOU. 1. . a

XV1ll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Wartaveta. After a photograph by A. Mielichhofer . , j , 101
Tue Camp on Fire. After a photograph . : ; ; . | aS
A Kitimansaro Beauty. After a photograph . ‘ ; : as
Mrriaui’s WIVES AND SLAVE-GIRLS. After a sketch by J. Tsch. . ., sey
GiraFFEs. After a photograph by J. Tsch. 5 : ; 421
Hypnora Arricana. By A. Mielichhofer . ; , ; . = sige
Horns or tHE Rutnoceros Bicornis. After a photograph by J. Tach. . 124
Birps oF Prey Freastine. After a photograph . F ; . gees
HorgNS OF THE GNU-ANTELOPE. By A. Mielichhofer . , s . 134
Mount Merv. After a photograph . : : : : i. age ee
War SHAURI BY THE Brook. After a photograph . ; ; . 145
AMONG THE WameERU. After a photograph by A. Mielichhofer . 2{o Ae
Lake Batpau. After a photograph by A. Mielichhofer : : . 159
GETTING THE DoNKEYS OVER THE Ronea. After a photograph by J. Tsch.. 164
Native oF Lirrte ArusHa. After a photograph by J. Tsch. . ‘ . 166
SNUFF-POUCHES OF NATIVES or KiLimangaro. After a photograph Pata ory AU
Horns or Mpata ANTELOPE. After a photograph by A. Mielichhofer . 175
Our Camp AT Miriaui’s. After a photograph : ; ; a 3 LES
A Kitimangaro Warrior. After a photograph : : F . 180
A Bir or Primzvat Forest on Kitimansaro. After a photograph by

J. Tsch. ; ; : ; : ; 2) 6G
TREE Heatu. After a photograph : : F é F BT
SENECIO JoHNSTONIT Otto. After a photograph . : ; oe bY
KIMAWENZI FROM THE SADDLE Puatnau. By A. Mielichhofer : . 195

MUSTERING OF THE CARAVAN BEFORE LEAVING TaveTA. By A. Mielichhofer 207

Kisuma Wavt Muynurvu. After a photograph . : ; : . 210
ATTACKED BY RuINocERosES. By A. Mielichhofer : oot aie
KiLtimaANJARO FROM UseEri. By A. Mtelichhofer : ; j . 223

A Masat Morvo with Brush FoR REMOVING Furs. After a photograph . 233

Hontine THE BuFrato NEAR Lake Nyiri. After a photograph , . 237
BETWEEN LAKE Nyrrt ano Mastmanit. By A. Mielichhofer : es
WatTER-HOLE AT Masimant. By A. Mielichhofer : ‘ ‘ . 243

A Masat Bagnori, on Younc Boy. After a photograph by J. Tseh. . . 245

IN THE FIRST VOLUME

Masat Moran 1N War Array. After a photograph

Masat Neck ORNAMENT WoRN BY WoMEN. After a photograph by J. Tsch..

Masart Ear Ornament. After a photograph

MoRANS AND THEIR DITTOS OR SWEETHEARTS DANCING. By A. Mielichhofer

Horns OF GAZELLE (SPECIES UNKNOWN). After a sketch by J. Tsch. .
WATER-HOLES OF SEKI. By A. Mielichhofer

‘TAVALA, Morwo! Tavata!’ (‘Stop, Moruvo! Srop!’) By A. Mielichhofer
Masat SuHIeLps. After a photograph

Grsita’s Enp. By A. Mielichhofer

A Masai Ssaneixi. After a photograph

Our Camp at Neoneo Bacds. After a sketch by J. Tsch.

MAxkING FRIENDSHIP IN KixuyuLanp. By A. Mielichhofer

WatER Patms. By A. Mielichhofer

Dracmna sp. By A. Grerl

In Kixuyutanp. By A. Mielichhofer

Uranas Uasaxi’s Vinttace. After a photograph

MaxkinG Buioop-BRoTHERHOOD. After a photograph

BEGINNING OF HostTILities By THE Brook. By A. Mielichhofer .
Kitxuyu Warriors. By A. Mielichhofer

A VILLAGE IN Kixuyunanp. By A. Mielichhofer .

Mastyoyva No. I. After a sketch from nature by J. Tsch.

Drunk witH Victory. After a sketch from nature by J. Tsch.

WE AVENGE ABEDI Wapr Heri. After a sketch by J. Tsch. .

PoMBE MAKING IN KixuyuLaNnD. After a sketch from nature by J. Tsch.
ARM ORNAMENTS OF THE WaAkIKUyU. After a sketch by J. Tsch.

Hark ORNAMENTS OF THE WAkIKuyU. After a sketch by A. Mielichhofer
WEAPONS OF THE Wakikuyu. By J. Tsch.

AN OLD-FASHIONED Kikuyu SHIELD. After a photograph

Toots oF A Kikuyu Situ. By L. H. Fischer

BauEARIcA Pavontna. After a photograph by J. Tsch.

KENIA FROM OUR Camp AT Nvdoro. By A. Mielichhofer

Bampoo THicketT oN Kenta. Aftera photograph .

Horns or Konus AntTELOPE. By A. Mielichhofer

XxX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AN WoL L

In Anxious Expectation. After a photograph . : : a He
Equator Camp. By A. Mielichhofer . ; : : ; . 893
Nomap Masar. After a photograph ; ; 5 , i pes
Masal oN THE Marcu. By A. Mielichhofer . . 5 . 408
Masart MorAN PAINTING THEIR SHIELDS. After a photograph . - +) 2408
PART OF THE CouRSE OF THE Guaso Nyiro. After a photograph . . 417
‘Mampo xkwa Muunau, Bwana!’ By L. A. Pischer , 24 ABD

Lake Barinco From THE HIGHLANDS oF Lerxipra. After a photograph by

J. T’sch. 5 ; : : ‘ : : : . 431

Map sHOWING RouTE, FROM PANGANI TO THE EQUATOR, OF COUNT TELEKI’S
EXPEDITION To East Africa, 1887-88; wITH GEOLOGICAL AND ETHNO-
GRAPHICAL SKETCH Mars, AND Map sHowiInNG DENSITY OF POPULA-

TION : : ‘ : : : . at end of volume

Hrrata

Page 22, line 29, for Buenni vead Bweni
» 24, 4 273 p. 25, line 18; p. 28, line 2; p. 29, lines 5 and 38, for Mauia read Mawia
, 45, last line; p. 46, line 7; p. 47, for Lewa read Leva.
, 46, line 7, for Wachensi read Washenzi
» 61, ,, 6, 5, Masai read Mafi
5,5 70, 5,15, ,, (Anoonuna arceus) read (Anomma arcens)
> 98 ,, 21, ., colocosia read colocasia
» 113, ,, 4, ,, bead read beads
», 135, lines 8 and 7; p. 228, line 19; p. 257, line 3, for Thomsoni 7ead Thomsonti
5, 196, note, for Teleki Schweinfurth, read Telekii, Schweinfurth
5, 202, line 20, for 35 Ib. read 300 frassilah, each abcut 35 Ib. .
,, 211, last line of note, for Rufu read Ruvu
» 961 line 5, for Dianyu read Dianya
, 374, note, for Deckeni read Deckenit

ase OV bi ¥

OF

LAKES RUDOLF AND STERANIE

Crive Th, 1
PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST
From October 5, 1886, to February 4, 1887

Introductory remarks on the Expedition—W. Oswald and G. Dehnhardt—Arrival in
Zanzibar—General L. W. Matthews—First shauwri or discussion with Jumbe
Kimemeta—Issa ben Madi—Arrival of the Bwana mkubwa, or Great Master—
The Sultan gives us audience—Dr. Gregory d’Arbela—Our day’s work—
Admiral Knorr—Arrival of Drs. Junker and Lenz—Qualla Idris—Purchase and
packing of merchandise —Hiring of porters— Zanzibari and Mrima—Guides and
Askari—Start from Zanzibar—Stranding of the ‘ Star’ off Pangani—The start
up-stream.

Tue dark continent of Africa, that portion of the world which
has longest resisted exploration, has now been almost com-
pletely robbed of the mystery it has known how to guard so
well, and to the present century is due the honour of having
sent forth the travellers who have at last succeeded in solving
the riddle of the Sphinx.

Very arduous has been their work, and many are they
who have fallen victims by the way; but others, imbued with
a similar zeal for the furtherance of scientific knowledge, have
ever been ready to take their places and to follow the rugged

path leading to the heart of the great continent. And no
VOL. I. | . =

2 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

wonder! For mighty is ever the fascination exercised by the
unknown, and, to the enthusiastic spirit, no charm can excel
that of devoting every power to a noble aim.

Imbued with a similar passion for research, Count Samuel
Teleki von Szek, a nobleman with an estate in Transylvania,
undertook to lead yet another expedition into the interior
of Africa. With ample means of his own, and inured to hard-
ship in many a sporting trip, Count Teleki was admirably
fitted to carry out to a successful issue an undertaking of this
kind; and early in 1886, when he was beginning his prepara-
tions, he received an invitation to Lacroma from the Crown
Prince, Archduke Rudolf, who took the greatest interest in
the proposed expedition.

Luckily for me, I happened just then to be off the island
of Lacroma on His Majesty’s yacht ‘ Greif, which had been
placed at the disposal of Prince Rudolf. I had long eagerly
desired to devote my humble powers to the exploration of
Africa, and I lost not a moment in urging Count Teleki to
allow me to jom him. Thanks, probably, to powerful influence,
my petition was granted, and the very next day I heard that
I was to go.

In a few brief interviews the Count and I worked out a
rough scheme of exploration, the chief aim of which was to
penetrate to the interior of Africa from the east coast. The
discussion of minor details as to equipment, provisions, &c.,
for a journey of several years through uncivilised districts
necessarily occupied a much longer time. Count Teleki went
off to England and France to make his own preparations,
whilst 1 remained in Austria to carry out that part of the task
assioned to me. We were to meet again at Zanzibar at the
end of October ; but it so happened that the Count was delayed,
and I had a whole month to wait before he joined me.

On October 5, 1886, I was ready to start, and I left Kurope

ARRIVAL AT ZANZIBAR z

on the Lloyd steamship ‘Titania,’ arriving safely at Aden,
whence, after a short stay, | proceeded by one of the British
India Company’s vessels.

It was fortunate for me that Mr. Oswald, then Consul for
Austria at Zanzibar, was on his way back to his post in the
same boat; for in the course of much pleasant intercourse
with him he not only gave me many valuable hints, but taught
me a great deal of Kiswahili, which is the language used in all
trade dealings at Zanzibar.

During the latter half of my voyage I also made another
very useful acquaintance in the person of Mr. Gustav Dehn-
hardt, the younger of the two brothers whose names are so
inseparably connected with Witu.’ Mr. Dehnhardt joined us
at the coast-station of Lamu, and from my first arrival in
Zanzibar gave me the constant benefit of his wide and varied
experience. No better travelling companion could I possibly
have desired.

We cast anchor in the picturesque harbour of Mombasa,
and the next day, October 31, which dawned clear and
bright, we sighted, to our delight, a low-lying strip of the
coast of the island of Zanzibar, bathed in the soft mists of
early morning. We neared it rapidly; gradually its form
became more and more defined, the waving crests of countless
palms stood out against the sky, and soon the whole of the
beautiful scene was spread out to our admiring view. Our
ship had now but to thread its way between a few gleaming
ereen coral islets, before we were opposite the Custom House
and surrounded by a swarm of little boats. The anchor chains
rattled as we came to a standstill, and, embarking on one of
the many smaller craft plying for hire, Mr. Dehnhardt and I
were soon on the beach, and in the midst of a great deal of

' Now included in British East Africa by the treaty of 1890 between England
and Germany.—TRANs.

4 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

unnecessary shouting we were landed dryshod, with the help
of some of the crowd of sturdy negroes awaiting us; after
which, with a motley train behind us, we made our way to
the Criterion Hotel.

The island of Zanzibar has been described so often that a
very few words will suffice from me. I felt as if the two
palaces of the Sultan, with the fort hard by in case of necessity,
were old acquaintances, and I fancied I had watched before the
swaying crowds of many varied types of humanity, the eager,
noisy traffic in the market-place, the stalls heaped high with
tropical fruits, and that I had already threaded my way
through the busy East Indian, or Arab quarter, and the
Ngambu, or negro quarter, on the other side of the bridge,
where walked the oft-described black dandy in his long white
shirt, whilst many a dainty 0622" flashed by with roguish,
laughing eyes—a very dream made real.

So great was the delight of seeing with my own eyes all the
varied beauties, all the complex lights and shades of the capital
of East Africa, about which I had read so much, that I would
sladly have devoted to their study every minute of leisure for
a week; and even in the hotel at which I had put up there was
so much that was novel to me that I wished my stay could
have been prolonged. As it was, however, I soon had plenty
else to do, for the very next morning I found that my arrival
had not been as unnoticed, as I could have wished, but was
already being discussed in every quarter of the town. At the
time of which I am writing Zanzibar was much quieter than it is
now: only one mail steamer put in a month, and as not nearly
so many Europeans arrived, the appearance of one was still an
event. And when, as in my case, that one was an explorer, the
news spread like wildfire in the native quarter. The Hast
Indian and Arab traders at once scented a fresh customer, and

1 Brbt means woman or girl.

NATIVE EXPLORERS 9)

the Wangwana of Ngambu, ever eager for adventure, from
amongst whom the Expedition would have to hire porters, &c.,
had no less reason to hail with joy the advent of a new traveller.
I had, therefore, no reason to be surprised when my quarters
were besieged every morning by crowds of gesticulating
negroes, and I received visits every day from sumptuously
attired East Indians, who came to offer me the choice of their
wares in high-sounding phrases. The unexpected delay in the
arrival of Count Teleki, however, made it impossible for me to
make any arrangements or bargains on my own responsibility,
so that 1 had to content myself with a kind of general and
informal series of inquiries.

One thing alone had been finally decided on in my interviews
with the Count, and that was, that we were to endeavour to
secure the services of a certain Martin, a Maltese sailor, who
had distinguished himself in Joseph Thomson’s journey through
Masailand. Martin was now in Zanzibar, living in a beautifully
situated country house belonging to his patron, General L. W.
Matthews, who at one time commanded the reeular army of
the Sultan. There I found him, and, fortunately, also several
faithful comrades of his, such as Manwa Sera, Kacheche, and
‘Bedue, all celebrities in their way, whose names had become
familiar to me in various books of travel, so that I was very
much interested in making their personal acquaintance. Shall
I describe the impression they made upon me? Alas! I must
confess that the somewhat romantic ideas I had conceived in my
study of books on Africa received a very severe shock, for they
were altogether different from what I had expected, bearing in
mind the share they had certainly taken in some of the epoch-
making exploring expeditions into Central Africa.

Although I failed to secure Martin, who had already engaged
himself to a party of English sportsmen, my efforts to do so
were not altogether without results, for to them I owe my

6 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

introduction to General Matthews, whose powerful influence
was absolutely invaluable to our Expedition. Thanks to his
friendly efforts, I quickly got through the Custom House the
140 cases and bales, containing the chief part of the stores of
the Expedition, which I had brought with me. Meanwhile my
leisure was at an end; to begin with, [ had to find a suitable

JUMBE KIMEMETA.

place to house our goods, then to superintend the unpacking
and sorting—sometimes, in fact, lending a hand myself, for the
crowd of negroes I had engaged often stood gaping and chatter-
ing, and it was hard work to keep them steadily at their task.
It was also high time to be looking out for recruits, and
above all to secure a picked body of guides. And this time I

JUMBE KIMEMETA t

was more fortunate than in Martin’s case, for I secured the co-
operation of Jumbe! Kimemeta, the ivory-trader of Masailand,
who also became well known through Thomson’s journey, and
was now in Zanzibar, summoned thither by the Sultan, at the
instance of certain creditors, with a view to the liquidation
of long-standing debts. As soon as I heard of the Jumbe’s
presence, I hastened to beg for an interview, or, as they say in
East Africa, a shaurv. My invitation was accepted at once,
and the very next day the great trader, a so-called Mrima-man,
or negro from the coast, arrived, like some Arab of rank, with
a goodly and imposing following. At the door of the room in
which, with Mr. Dehnhardt, | was awaiting my guests, they
laid aside their sandals. Then I sat down to table with the
o as inter-
preter, whilst the retainers squatted down onthe floor. Kime-

most important of them, Mr. Dehnhardt kindly actin

meta seemed very nervous at first, even after the handing
round of the cigarettes and sherbet, to which I treated the
whole party, with a view to setting them at their ease. The
leader’s face was deeply pitted with small-pox and his right
eye had been injured by that disease, but the expression of the
other was bright, honest, and intelligent. Another man who
struck me as having a particularly sensible face must be men-
tioned here on account of the great services he rendered us
later, though only in our preparations—a negro from the Comoro
Islands, Issa ben Madi by name, who held the rank of captain
in the Sultan’s army. |
The shauri soon led to a cordial understanding, and Kime-
meta declared himself ready to act as guide in an expedition
to Masailand ; and as I was very favourably impressed by him,
I did not hesitate to secure by a considerable present in money
his remaining in Zanzibar until the arrival of Count Teleki.
The same day Issa ben Madi brought me three young

1 ¢ Jumbe’ is a native name for chief.—TRANs.

8 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

negroes—Chuma, Baraka, and Jomari by name, whom I engaged
as servants, and now had to teach their duties—as well as a
number of others, whom I wished to employ as collectors of
beetles and butterflies. So my time was passed chiefly in
brown and black companionship, and the English colony saw
little of me till November 29, when the British India steam-
ship ‘ Oriental’ at last put into port with Count Teleki
on board. He had made the whole trip from London by sea,
and had had to wait a week at Aden for the Zanzibar mail.
The news of his arrival quickly became known, and very soon,
either singly or in groups, all those interested in the Expedition
came to bid the leader welcome and to kiss his hands, with
many deep obeisances and friendly grimaces. The Lwana
mkubwa, or great master, was now here, and my position as
an interesting European of the first rank was gone—I was now
only Bwana mdogo, or the little master; such are the laws of.
etiquette in East Africa! Had there been a third member of
the Expedition, either he or I would have been the Awana
katikati, or the middle master.

Now began days of a very different kind for me, full of a
variety of occupations. Count Teleki had brought letters of
introduction, and various notabilities must be called upon—a
duty I had hitherto neglected. One day, of course, was
devoted to paying our respects to His Highness the Sultan, Seyid
Burgash, who was most favourably disposed towards us, took
the greatest interest in our Expedition, and promised to help us
by every means in his power. At this audience we also made
acquaintance with Dr. Gregory d’Arbela, physician to the
harem of the Sultan; and the value will be readily understood
of the friendship of a man so trusted by the ruler of the
country, and who in many years’ residence had acquired such
a thorough knowledge of the customs of the people.

As already stated, we made out but a very rough sketch

DIVIDING THE STORES 9

of our plans when we first met, and it was only now that
Count Teleki and myself decided on the course which we were
fortunate enough to be able to carry out in every particular.
We were able to set quietly about our preparations, and with
the help of General Matthews to decide exactly what we really
did require. First of all we made an agreement with Jumbe
Kimemeta, according to which he undertook to accompany the
Expedition for the sum of 2,000 dollars. He was also to carry
the necessary articles for barter by the way, and to superintend
the packing of the same in the customary way. He could not
begin this work yet, however, as he had first to go home to
Pangani to settle certain affairs of his own, as well as to hire
a number of men and to buy some grey donkeys as beasts of
burden for us.

Meanwhile we had to divide the stores brought from
Europe into loads of 54 stone each, and to repack them in
proper style. There were tents, camp-stools, tables, beds,
instruments, saws, axes, knives, provisions, ammunition, boats,
masts, sails, cordage, metal goods, packing-cloths, and the
hundred-and-one things needed for an expedition of several
years’ duration ; but there was no immediate hurry, and gradu-
ally chest after chest was packed of the right proportions,
weighed, catalogued, sealed up, and marked with a number
indicating its contents.

So we were very busy all day long in the house I had hired
for the purpose, and only when the sun began to sink behind the
dark blue mountains of the mainland did we relax our toil, and
indulge in a ride in the beautiful environs of Zanzibar on the
erey donkeys! Count Teleki had bought for our use. A fre-
quent companion of these rides was the German Rear-Admiral

' These donkeys really are mules, and come from Muscat, in Arabia. They
are, however, always called donkeys, and are held in high esteem by wealthy
Arabs and East Indians on account of their fine pace. They are, of course, propor-
tionately dear, the price varying from 50 to 250 dollars.

10 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

Knorr, then in command of some vessels lying off Zanzibar, who
was much interested in our plans, and helped us greatly by
letting some of the men under his command aid our prepa-
rations. The evening found us as guests at the house of some
friendly acquaintance, or on board one of the vessels in the
harbour sharing a merry meal with the officers, or perhaps
on the roof of our own house discussing with Issa ben Madi
every detail of our arrangements over and over again till the
call to evening prayer compelled him to leave us, when Count
Teleki often seized his sextant and began taking observations
of the moon or the stars; so that it was generally long after
midnight before we went to rest.

During this period of our residence in Palo two great
events took place which were of special interest to us, and the
echo of which resounded throughout the world. Dr. William
Junker, lone supposed to be dead, arrived in Zanzibar, after
many years wandering in Central Africa, anxious to secure
help for his friend and comrade in misfortune, Emin Pasha.
Dr. Junker’s healthy appearance and high spirits proved that,
in spite of all the privations he had undergone, his seven years’
residence in tropical Africa had done him no harmat all. And
very soon afterwards Dr. O. Lenz also appeared at Zanzibar,
having made his way in eighteen months from the mouth of
the Congo to that of the Zambesi. He too was in first-rate .
condition, and we felt that the safe arrival of these two ex-
plorers was a very happy augury for us, who stood but on the
threshold of the dark continent they knew so well.

The next mail steamer brought a number of men from
Somali-land, whose services Count Teleki had engaged by the
advice of Sir Richard Burton. That experienced traveller had
most strongly urged on the Count the necessity of having with
him a small but strong personal escort of men from a distance,
belonging to other tribes than those of the districts to be

QUALLA IDRIS 11

passed through. When at Aden Count Teleki thought it would
be advisable to choose his escort in Somal-land, and he began
by engaging, on the recommendation of Major Hunter, then
Resident there, a young Somal of twenty-four years old from
Habr-Anwal, whose name was Qualla Idris, who had been to
America as a boy, and, later, was for six years one of Stan-

QUALLA IDRIS.

ley’s truest and most faithful followers on the Congo, going
eventually with his master to Hurope ; so that he had also some
acquaintance with the Old World. After leaving Stanley’s
service, Idris returned to his native land and acted as guide to
the expedition there led by the brothers James.

Qualla had only just got back to Aden after this journey

12 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

when Count Teleki met him, and he was quite ready to enlist
on a new expedition, although he had scarcely had any time
for the enjoyment of the society of a charming little wife.
With Qualla came six other young Somal, and a seventh joined
us later.

Qualla spoke Arabic, Hindustani, English, and Kiswahili ;
and this was by no means his first visit to Zanzibar, so that he
soon became most useful to us. But we could not do much
with his companions as yet, for we could only communicate
with them through an interpreter.

Our work now went on fast enough—faster than necessary,
in fact, as Jumbe Kimemeta kept us waiting longer than he
had said he would or than we approved of; but punctuality
and fidelity to one’s word are not among the virtues of the
brown and black races of the earth. When he at last arrived,
however, he set to work with a zeal we should never have
expected from his phlegmatic appearance.

The next thing to be done was to decide on the kind and
amount of merchandise which must be taken with us. And
this is always a very difficult matter on the coast, as the infor-
mation given on the spot is not to be relied on; whilst the
leaders of caravans who really are experienced are quite in-
capable of giving an estimate ; so that many and many a discus-
sion had to be gone through before we could get a really definite
idea of what was needed.

The purchase of the goods for barter was entrusted to
Jumbe Kimemeta and Issa ben Madi, who had the help of
the experienced East Indian staff of the well-known house of
Oswald & Co.

Our list of wares included a grand collection of articles, the
most important of which I enumerate below. We had 600
pieces (djora) of white cotton goods (merikanz) alone, from 30
to 40 yards long; 250 djora of dark-blue calico (kanzkz), of

OUR WARES vor"

8 yards long; 100 pieces of ‘stuff of a fine deep red colour,
ealled bendera assilia, 32 yards long; and besides these chief
pieces, various lengths of first- and second-rate qualities, the
former of Arab manufacture. We had a great quantity of
beads, especially of the so-called Masai beads, which are of
glass and from about the twelfth to the eighth of an inch
in diameter, of a red (samesame), blue (madschibahari), or
white (aschanga meupe) colour, altogether amounting to about
45 ewt.; with some of the so-called wkuta, which are blue-
glass Paris beads about the size of a pea; common white
beads, called sambaj; green, blue or light brown glass rings,
called murtinarok, less than half an inch in diameter; some
very fine tiny red and turquoise-blue beads for the people of
Kilimanjaro ; and, lastly, a great stock of large mixed beads,
known collectively as mboro. In addition to all these, we took
as an experiment some very fine pale brown, blue, and white
beads, which the house of Filonardi had just begun to introduce
under the name of Oriental beads. Our stock of iron wire
(senenge), one-fifth of an inch thick, made more than 100 loads ;
that of strong brass and copper wire only fifteen loads. It is
not possible to take metal from the east coast in the form of
rods. But I have by no means exhausted the list of our goods.
We had nearly 8 cwt. of gunpowder, in small cases, each
containing about 11 lb., and many thousand caps for large
muzzle-loaders, besides tin, lead, fine wire (mzkujw), cowries,
knives, scissors, looking-glasses, picture-books, jointed jump-
ing dolls, gilt-wire bracelets and rings, daggers, naval and
cavalry sabres, with many other miscellaneous trifles which
happened to take our fancy or come in our way, and which we
thought might be useful in our dealings with the black chief-
tains whose favour and co-operation it was so important for
us to secure.

Jumbe Kimemeta, to whom the packing of the merchandise

14 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

was entrusted, began his work the very next day, but not, of
course, without the prayers and incense-burning which are
customary over the doing-up of the first bale. The usual mode
of packing is very simple, and is rapidly accomplished. Several
pieces of coloured stuff are laid between two bales of white
material; the whole is then placed in cheap white merikani, or
calico, which in its turn is covered with cocoanut matting, and
after being beaten into the smallest possible compass with strong
sticks, 1s sewn tightly up into a hard, firm ball. The beads
were only packed in common sacks, some of which very soon
burst on the journey, much to the delight of the carriers, who,
of course, did not let ship the chance of dipping their fingers
into them. The coils of wire, &c., were tied together and sewn
up in matting lke the rest of the loads. Finally, every load
had to be marked with a legible number and entered in a
book.

The mode of packing just described is neither lasting enough
nor does it sufficiently protect the goods; in fact, the matting
really only makes it more difficult to check deterioration by
hiding the damage done; but, like everyone else, we fell
victims to dasturi—or old-established custom—and our mer-
chandise was done up in the usual unsatisfactory way.

One day, when we were busily engaged as described above,
we were alarmed by the tidings that Stanley was about to start
on his journey for the relief of Emin Pasha, and would want
500 men from Zanzibar as carriers. Now, although there are
any number of men in the capital eager to take part in explor-
ing expeditions, we should have to bestir ourselves if we wanted
to secure really trustworthy fellows. We had waited till the
last moment, as we really had not enough for the men to do,
but now we had no choice, and Count Teleki Jost no time in
making it known in the quarters where porters are to be had
that we too were ready to hire.

NATIVE NAMES bus

Our appeal was responded to with wonderful rapidity, and
but an hour afterwards Issa ben Madi, who undertook the
choosing and hiring of men, was besieged by an eagerly gesticu-
lating crowd as he sat at a table in the court of our house.

To separate from amongst the number of applicants by a
series of inquisitorial questions those hopelessly ineligible re-
quires a considerable amount of tact, and to make out the
wonderful names of those chosen requires a very good ear.
To give one or two instances of the styles and titles assumed
by these swarthy hidalgos: here was a certain Omari wadi
Nassib Naddin Hamis ben Raschid, meaning Omari, son of
Nassib, slave of Hamis ben Raschid; and Almiiss wadi Uledi
Naddim Abdallah Hamis, meaning Almiiss, son of Uledi, slave
of Abdallah Hamis. A good many add to their names the
attribute Naddin Balosi, or slave of the Consul, which merely
means that after the abolition of slavery they had entered the
service of some European or East Indian. Instead of these
terribly long titles, the men generally become known by quite
a short nickname, indicating either some personal quality or
accidental circumstance. For example, in our retinue we
had twelve men owning the fine-sounding baptismal! name of
Almiiss, meaning precious stone; but very soon one became
Almiiss Neussi, or Almiiss the Black, another Almiiss Njekundu,
or Almiiss the Red, their complexions justifying these pseudo-
nyms ; whilst others were even more closely described as Almiiss
Msangu, Manjeina Unjanweri, and soon. Yet another Alniiss
was called bischibu, because he was at one time in the service
of Bishop Hannington ; and yet another was Almiiss muitende, or
Almiiss of the Dates, because he once carried a load of that fruit.

The men who offered themselves to us for service in such
numbers belonged to many different races, and I cannot now

* The author says taufname, or baptismal name; but we doubt if all these men
had been baptised.—TRANS.

16 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

enter into a description of their pecularities, but must content
myself with adding that we selected, in addition to Zanzibaris,
or Watu a ungudya, a good many so-called Mrima, that is to say,
inhabitants of the coast of the mainland between Suadani and
Wanga, not only because they are sturdy, willing, and obliging
fellows, but because they would be very useful in Masailand
on account of their knowledge of its language and customs.
We should have liked our caravan to consist of Mrima alone ;
but we had been told we should certainly not be able to secure
enough, so Count Teleki decided to take 200 Zanzibari in any
case.

We began by putting on our list of men all who seemed at
all promising, and on the second day we had as many as 250

a good many more than we wanted; but we intended to
weed out from amongst them later any who turned out to be
ill, weak, or otherwise unsuitable. The result of this was that
we had many a thrilling scene when the weeding-out was ac-
complished, and many were the touching appeals made by those
who were to be left behind, as they urged on us, often with
theatrical pathos, all they had gone through, their powers of
endurance, and so on; but all was in vain, our minds were
made up.

An expedition such as ours requires, in addition to the
porters, or pagazi, a certain number of Askari, or guards, and of
guides, whose duty it is to aid the traveller with their experi-
ence. ‘They carry no loads, but they are responsible for order
and safety on the march and in camp; they keep the people
together, encourage them on the march, help them to place the
loads on their shoulders, and relieve of their burdens those who
have become disabled. ‘They act as interpreters and advisers
in dealings with the natives, especially in regulating the amount
of tribute or presents, and in the buying of provisions, &c.
When donkeys or mules are used as beasts of burden, it is the

ARITA ATTA

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NOL... I.

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SICK AND WEAK.

THE

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WEEDING

A THREATENED STRIKE 19

Askari who wait behind to lade them. It is difficult to define
the duties of the guides as clearly as those of the Askari, for of
course they depend very much upon the direction taken by
the expedition. For the rest, guards and guides are equally
willing, experienced, and trustworthy. Whilst a mere porter
is content with a payment of five dollars a month, an Askari
requires from six to nine, a guide from nine to fifteen, and in
some cases-even more, for a trip of one month only. The
wages, except for an advance when the bargain is made, are
paid at the end of the journey.

Although the customs as to payment are pretty well esta-
blished, several efforts were made to secure more, especially a
larger instalment to begin with; in fact, one day we were
threatened with a regular strike. We knew the negro cha-
racter too well, however, to yield, and to their cries of ‘ You can
find other men,’ we merely answered, ‘It’s nothing to us what
you do, or where and when you go,’ which was quite enough
to make them all come quietly back to us the next morning.
It was more difficult to deal with some of the guides, especially
with Manwa Sera, the eldest of them, who, a few days after
joming us, demanded nineteen dollars instead of the thirteen
arranged for. When the old fellow persisted, we told him
bluntly that he might give us back the instalment he had
received and go about his business; which did not please him
at all, and, moreover, had a capital effect on the rest of the
men, for we heard no more grumbling.

We completed our preparations in the second half of
January 1887. Two hundred Zanzibari, nine Askari, and the
nine cuides were in readiness to start, as well as 450 porters ;
70 loads of iron wire had been sent in advance to Mombasa
by steamer, where they were to remain till we could send for
them from Taveta. After many consultations with Jumbe
Kimemeta, we had decided on Pangani as the starting-point

Cc 2

20 PREPARATIONS 1N ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

for the Expedition, and he had already gone there to await us.
In a farewell audience, His Highness the Sultan had given us
a number of letters of recommendation to his officers on the
mainland, and also placed his steamer ‘Star’ at our service for
the voyage to Pangani, whilst a large sailing-vessel was to
start with the men and most of the stores two days earlier
than we did.

On January 21, 1887, then, the sailing-vessel lay at anchor
close to the beach. We had impressed upon our men the ne-
cessity of their mustering punctually and in full force; but in
spite of their reiterated assurances of ‘Awnallah,’ or ‘All right,
so shall it be,’ we waited for them in the broiling sunshine with
some little anxiety. But they came, late, it 1s true; all, at least,
except two, who, we were told, had been taken up for debt.
This is a trick East Indians are very fond of playing on
Europeans when they want to evade their engagements. But
with the help of Issa ben Madi we at last got even these
defaulters on board, and by sunset Count Teleki was able to
give the signal to start.

The light-hearted men seemed quickly to get over their
orief at parting from home and wife, and from their beloved
Unjudja, for wild shouts were heard on shore as the great
clumsy white sail of the dhow slowly swelled in the slight
breeze, and the vessel got under way.

The next two days were divided between feverish toil and
the enjoyment of the eager hospitality of our friends in Zanzi-
bar; and now, on January 28, the date of our own departure
had dawned. The ‘ Star,’ with our personal lugeage already on
board, loomed through a cloud of spotless white steam, and we
were still sitting amongst a crowd of friends in Mr. Oswald's
house; quickly, however, a last bumper was drunk to the success
of our journey and our happy return; then we too left the
shores of Zanzibar. We were very silent as we were rowed to

x - Th

OFF TO PANGANI Zh

the steamer; then followed all the noise and confusion of
the start, and soon night fell, hiding the white houses of
Zanzibar from our sight; a dazzling brightness from the light-
house flashed through the gloom, to disappear in its turn,
leaving us only the recollection of the friends we had left
behind us.

After a very uncomfortable night on deck in pouring rain,
the new day dawned clear and bright, and the ‘Star’ was

EMBARKATION OF OUR MEN.

ploughing along in the open sea, far away from the coast of
the mainland, which appeared as a thin blue streak only, none
of its features being recognisable. It was some time, too,
before the captain, a white-haired old Arab, took the bearings ;
but as soon as he had done so the vessel’s head was turned
towards the coast, which we approached at full steam. As
yet we could see nothing of Pangani, for which we were bound,
but the change in the colour of the sea from a beautiful clear

yer PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

blue to a dirty yellow betrayed that we were nearing the
mouth of the river of that name, whilst here and there patches
of white foam indicated dangerous shallows. All this, how-
ever, seemed to trouble our venerable captain but little, until
we suddenly came to a standstill with a fearful shock. Then
ensued a terrible uproar; but we managed to get off the sand-
bank on which we had struck. We had not, however, gone on
smoothly for long before we were again amongst shoals, through
which we wended our way in trembling till we came to a halt
once more in the open monsoon-swept roadstead four miles from
land. Two boats were now lowered, in one of which Count
Teleki embarked with our most valuable possessions, whilst
into the other stepped our captain, to fetch help for his water-
logged vessel, which lay almost on her side. I remained on
board, not a httle exercised in my mind as to whether this
mishap at the outset was or was not a bad omen for our
journey. The inrushing tide soon, however, relieved us from
our uncomfortable position by righting the ‘ Star,’ and it was
not very long before a dhow came out to our rescue. On to
this, in spite of the heavy sea, we shipped everything, and set
sail for Pangani, which we did not see till we were in the
mouth of the river.

Pangan, which consists of a number of dark loam-coloured
huts, amongst which are a few conspicuous-looking stone houses
finished off with white or yellow plaster, les on the left bank
of the river of the same name, and is bounded on the north by
a thick wood of cocoanut palms. Opposite to Pangani, on
the other side of the river, which is here about 270 yards

wide, is the village of Buenni—a mere straggling row of huts
on the low, narrow shore, behind which rise steep, and in
many cases perpendicular, rocks.

Although these two places are very insignificant-looking,

they are of some trading importance, for not only are many

JUMBE KIMEMETA WELCOMES US ae

articles of commerce produced here, but for the last twelve or
fourteen years Pangani has been the starting-point of large
‘caravans on their way to Masailand for ivory, which is brought
back in great quantities to the coast by this route, its value
Increasing every year.

Life in the wilderness, with all its dangers and privations,
has, as I have already remarked, produced a sturdy race of
travellers. But the natives of this part do not care to take
service with Kuropeans, partly because they object to the severe
discipline, and partly because they are, of course, prevented
from trading on their own account. But they are fond of a
little speculative trading, and this leads them to insist, as a rule,
on receiving half-payment at the beginning of a journey instead
of only a small instalment, such as the Zanzibaris are content
with. This capital enables them to do a nice little business
on their own account.

There are so few stone houses in Zanzibar that we were
glad to be able to secure a half-built one. Soon after we
landed, Jumbe Kimemeta, who had gone on to prepare for
us, came to bid us welcome, and, as usual in Africa, he was
followed by a crowd of people curious to see the new arrivals,
so that we were soon scarcely able to move. He had bought
twenty-five grey donkeys, but he had not hired any men, and,
knowing how much we should regret this, he had tried to mollify
us by having a sumptuous repast ready, in which curried
chicken and rice flavoured with cocoanut were the chief dishes.
And truly the feast was welcome, and warded off inopportune
inquiries for a while.

The fact was we had arrived at Pangani at an unfortunate
time : many large caravans were now on their way to the interior,
and others were about to start, so that there were very few
men to be had. A visit we paid to the governor of the town,
one Wali by name, was fruitless ; chiefly however, because this

24 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

officer of the Sultan was a
feeble personage, with little
influence. We hoped for
better results by advertising

that a dollar would be given

as an extra present to every

man who enlisted under us.

In spite of this, however,

and although we hired some

slaves who had never set

foot in Masailand, we got

on much more slowly than

we could have wished. And
to all our trouble was added

anxiety about the fate of the

dhow, which left Zanzibar

two days before we did and

PANGANI.

had not ‘yet arrived ; but

from this we were relieved

at last, on the afternoon of
January 25, by the sound of
the firme of guns from the

direction of the river.

We meant to tranship

men and goods to boats, and
send them up-stream at once
to Mauia, the first halting-
place for caravans, so as to

keep our forces together, for
we could not hope to do so
in a scattered village lke
Pangani, where there were

so many good nooks to hide

A MONOTONOUS CHANT va

in. . But the dhow had been detained by contrary winds so
much longer by the way than we had expected that the pro-
visions had become exhausted and the men were all very
hungry and thirsty. No wonder, then, that there was a regular
outcry at the idea of any further travelling by water. The
poor fellows had been cooped up already for five days, and
were so delighted at the thought of getting off the boat that
it was only with the greatest difficulty we quelled the rebellion
which ensued at our proposal. And when peace was restored
the {tide had turned, and it was no longer possible to go up-
stream by water; so we had to let the men disembark, give
them food, and leave them for the present to their own devices.
Very soon numbers of fires were burning in the open space in
front of our house, and for the first time on this trip we saw a
negro encampment by night, and watched the picturesque groups
squatting round their fires, chattering and shouting as they
broiled their slices of meat.

The next morning we saw the men off by land for Mauia
under the guidance of Qualla; the goods were sent there by
boat, whilst we ourselves remained behind in Pangani to enlist
more recruits.

The next few days were monotonous enough ; very few men
offered us their services, and as even those few came one by
one, we had to stop inallday. The outlook from the windows
was not particularly cheering, and from the flat roof of the
neighbouring house, on which a number of young slave girls
were stamping up and down, came an unbroken and dreary
chant, which only interested us until we made out its refrain,
which was: ‘The lion roars, yet eats not his cubs.’

The late afternoon brought us a little more variety, as
Wali devoted it to the administration of justice, and disputes
about money, with other interesting matters, were discussed and
settled in the open air. Surrounded by some of the elders

26 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

of the place, Wali seated himself cross-legged on the low step
of his hut, with his writing materials near him ; whilst opposite
to him, making themselves comfortable on a straw mat, were
six representatives of the military power—wildly picturesque-
looking birobotos, or soldiers of the Sultan’s irregular army.
As the day wore on the crowd increased ; from every side came
stately figures, clothed, it is true, in rags, but bearing themselves
with dignity, for were they not about to take their part in a
pubhe session of a court of law? And it was truly charming to
watch the formal courtesy with which each new-comer was
received; even the plaintiff would pause in the midst of his
pathetic appeal to jom in the general salaam, whilst the pro-
ceedings were all interrupted.

When some twenty or thirty people were assembled, the
lean old prison warder never failed to appear, carrying a big
ean of coffee, made from the finest Mocha berries, which he
offered to all without distinction; after which the proceedings
went on until the sound of the muezzin called the faithful to
evening prayer in the neighbouring mosque.

Our men, too, took care that our days should not pass too
quietly, and many of them were drawn towards the town by
the attractions of love or wine; whilst some made themselves
noticeable in other ways. For the first day’s rations we had
eiven out rice, and for the second dhurra, a native cereal (the
Andropogon sorghum); but presently came an impudent letter
saying that the dhurra must have been served out by mistake,
as it was only fit for asses’ fodder. At this Count Teleki
decided to go himself and bring the fellows to their senses.

I must also tell of a catastrophe which now befell us, and
affected us severely, novices as we still were to the vicissitudes
of travel in Africa. I mean the death, in spite of all our care
and nursing, of one of our valuable grey donkeys from Muscat,
after an ulness of twenty-four hours.

THE GLITTERING ATTRACTIONS OF MAMMON 27

Slowly the hiring of porters.continued, and at last we felt
real delight and excitement when a likely fellow appeared
approaching our house; and when he actually began to ascend
the steps leading to our room, we got out our chest of money
and openly displayed the glittering attractions of mammon, in
the hope of making a favourable impression upon our victim.

AME
HEH MTT
Hi}

WE gt

i a \
Wy

THE GLITTERING ATTRACTIONS OF MAMMON.

But in spite of everything we had only secured seventy-two men
in a whole week, and of these few were ready to start.

The life of inaction began to affect us, and as we were afraid
of falling a prey to the fevers haunting the coast, which had
thus far spared us, Count Teleki determined to break up our

camp and be off.

28 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

Two small river dhows sufficed to take us and our new
followers to Mauia, and we started up the winding stream in
them in the afternoon of January 28. This was really our first
step into the wilderness, and was full of the deepest interest to
us on that account; but the exquisite scenery would have
charmed us in any case. Wild and varied vegetation clothes
the banks, instead of the dense impenetrable forests usual in the
northern tropics. At first—that 1s to say, as long as the water
was brackish—this vegetation consisted chiefly of mangroves,
weird-looking growths, the dark crown of leaves rising from
above the bare aérial roots as if from stilts; farther on came
sugar plantations, with hedges of banana-trees and betel-nut
palms, the banks still retaming their primeval appearance.
Here and there on the smooth surface of the water appeared
the snouts of hippopotami, which had come up to breathe with
much snorting and puffing. Now and then some old fellow rose
right out of the water, plunging back with a tremendous splash,
converting the smooth river into a rough sea of waves ; and we
sent a few balls after one or another, but as far as we knew
with no particular result. And so the time passed very
pleasantly until, as night fell, we turned into a bend of the
stream, where our voyage ended. There was no one from the
camp hard by to meet us or help us unload, although we had
written to say exactly when we should arrive—a neglect which
brought a storm of rebuke upon the heads of the offenders when
we reached them. But now all hands began to bestir them-
selves, and everything, even a good supper, was soon ready for
us, so that we were quickly restored to a good and forgiving
humour.

This was the first time we were really ina camp of our own,
in our own movable home, and the thought filled us with the
oreatest delight. With eager interest we gazed on the pic-
turesque surroundings of our halting-place, which, with the

LIST OF OUR STORES 29

hastily constructed straw huts, the flickering fires, and the
figures flitting to and fro, resembled a busy negro village.

The next morning we examined our situation more closely,
and found that we were on a low height close to the village of
Mauia, our camp marked by a mighty baobab-tree and several
fan palms. We then carefully examined all the stores of the
Expedition, which made quite a lordly-looking pile in the middle
of the camp, in front of our tent. The following is a list of our

possessions :—

Tents, tables, camp-stools, beds, cases of clothes, instru-

ments, &e. . : , ; : ; ‘ ; . 65 loads
Powder and ammunition . : ; Pao
Preserves, soap, tobacco, sugar, tea, Bees ‘nd soon. . 44 ,,
Medicines, bandages, and filters . ; . : : : Soaks
Rockets and explosives : : : : ‘ : yaa:
Spirits of wine. : : 1 load
Lighting materials. ; ; : 3 loads
Axes, shovels, saws. : ‘ : ; : Aye Eee
Tools, reserve stores, and fine toa ; ; z ; : aan
Strong cables for crossing rivers . , : ; Di «55
Grease for our weapons, Xe. : : s : : ; 1 load
Rice. : , i : : ; ; 2 5 loads
Brandy, wine, Aa vinegar . : : ; ; ; ; Be
Covers for stores . : : ‘ : ; : Die Rs
Lengths of material . é : : : : : ae cSOr he.
Glass beads. : : : ‘ ’ ; 5 , x 100,
Iron wire, cowries, and soon 80 =z,
Copper money, for the early part of ane cone in the Boast

districts : : , : 3

An iron boat in six odo onde a canvas hots in ae parts 22 ,,
With many other articles, making in all over 470 loads.

We had now to get our caravan into marching order, and
this was a task which occupied several days.

We had at present 283 porters and twenty-five grey donkeys,
to attend upon which another seven fellows were engaged.

Of course it was quite impossible to take all our goods
forward at once with this force, so Count Teleki decided to
leave a portion at Mauia, under the care of the elders of the

town, until he was in a position to send for it and for the iron

50 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

wire despatched earlier to Mombasa. Next we chose out the
loads it was absolutely necessary to take with us, and then we
divided these amongst our people.

At this juncture a strange weakness came over the whole
of our force, each member finding his load too heavy, and
objecting to it for one reason or another. Everyone now tried
to assume as pitiable an appearance as he could, and it was
really quite comic to watch the wretched expressions they all
managed to put on as they were called up one by one for their
strength to be tested. Of course all this had no effect upon
us, and the flow of words poured out upon us ended mostly in
wind, for not one was let off the double load or the square chest
they all agreed in hating. We had especial difficulty in getting
the eighteen porters required for the iron boat, and we had to
use a great deal of persuasion and soft-sawder to reconcile the
men to their burden; indeed, even then their yielding was only
apparent, for they took the very first opportunity on the march
to desert from the ranks.

Directly a man had received his load he carried it off to
have a distinctive mark made on it, and also to get used to its
burden. Many of the porters stuck a forked stick into the load,
so as to get it more easily on to their shoulders; whilst others,
especially the Wa-nyamwesi, liked to divide each load into two
parts, fasten each half at the end of a stout stick, and carry
the stick on their shoulders; but of course this could only be
done with such things as wire, &c.

A strict record is always made of the division of the loads,
which record is really quite indispensable, partly on account of
the many desertions at the beginning of every trip, and partly
because the porters who are discontented with their burdens
take every opportunity of displacing their contents.

To wind up with, weapons were distributed to the caravan.
For this we had 200 rifled muzzle-loaders, eighty breechloading

“SGVOT HHL AO NOISIAIG

DUTIES OF OUR FOLLOWERS ao

Werndl carbines, twelve Colt’s repeating rifles, each one with
bayonet and cartridge-pouch, as well as a number of revolvers.
Our Somal bodyguard and the servants had received magazine
rifles, the former revolvers as well; the guides, Askari, and the
sturdier of the porters, Werndl carbines, the rest muzzle-loading
guns. Some of the men were provided with what are known
as hedging-bills, which did good service in the bush later on.

The Somal and the three Swahili had become very good
shots in Zanzibar, and Count Teleki at once began giving the
other men lessons in shooting at a mark ; moreover, as soon as
the weapons were given out the men set to work to practise,
and soon the sound of firing was continual.

The duties of the guides, Askari, and Somal had still to be
carefully portioned out. Jumbe Kimemeta had nothing to
do with the caravan, as he merely accompanied us in order to
give us the benefit of his experience in travelling and knowledge
of the country. Count Teleki had, however, acceded to his
request to be allowed to take a small caravan himself, with a
view to doing a little trading in ivory on his own account. Qualla
Idris was responsible for what we may call the internal economy
of our force ; and from the other Somal Count Teleki selected
two, Juma Jussuf and Ali Hassan by name, as his own body-
servants, whilst the other five were provisionally appointed as
general supervisors of the whole caravan. I may as well add
here, that before the end of the journey this Somal guard
became the most important portion of our followers, whilst the
guides sank to the position of mere ordinary members of the
Expedition.

We had altogether nine guides in our service, including the
already mentioned Manwa Sera, who was the oldest of all.
Maktubu, a slave from Nyassaland, received the same wages as
Manwa Sera, but held no particular rank in the caravan. This
man had already distinguished himself for steadfastness and

VOL. I. D

34 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST
courage, but also for violence, on Joseph Thomson’s journey
through Masailand, and on account of the last-named quality
the rest of the guides had declared before we left Zanzibar that
they would not travel with him. But Count Teleki was very
anxious to secure him, and hit upon the expedient of placing
him to a certain extent on his own staff, so that he should not
have much to do with the rest of the men; and with this the
other guides expressed themselves content.

Maktubu certainly did at first prove himself to be a wild,
refractory fellow, a regular tiger when his will was crossed ;
but he found his match in Count Teleki, and, once mastered,
he became one of the most valuable men in our service, for
he far excelled every other guide we had. Of exceptional
physique, and with unrivalled powers of endurance, he was
reliable, energetic, full of resource, excelling all others in
obedience, ever ready to work, the first to begin, the last to go
to rest.

{ must also say a word for Ali Schaonewe, who, although
wanting in enerey and unable to take the initiative, yet proved
himself honourable and reliable, faithfully carrying out the
duties he undertook. The rest of the guides—Bedue, Tom
Charles, Ali ben Omari, Nassi wadi Ferhan, and Meri—were,
with the exception of the last, none of them worth a charge of .
powder.

We had only engaged nine Askari, as we thought we could
add to their number from the main body of the caravan if
need were. We did not trouble to divide the Expedition into
sections, as we found the men sorted themselves, so to speak,
fellow-countrymen and friends consorting together, and gene-
rally keeping with each other throughout the trip. To each of
these groups, called kambi, was given a copper cooking-pot,
varying in size according to their number, and one or more
axes for chopping wood, clearing the ground, &c. Water-

are

‘KAMBIS; THEIR ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES 35

gourds, however, the people had to provide for themselves.
This division of the party ito kambis leads to a good many
bits of cheating, as the men sell pots, axes, knives, parts of their
loads, everything barterable in fact, to the natives; but as the
journey proceeds it lessens the work all round considerably,
the leaders of each kambi being held responsible for every-
thing connected with it. For waiting on us there remained

OUR CANVAS BOAT ON THE MARCH.

the three Swahili I had engaged when I first arrived at Zanzi-
bar, one of whom, Jomari, Count Teleki chose for himself,
leaving the other two—Chuma and Baraka—to me; and,
taking into account that they were once slaves, I found them most
willing and attentive; they did for me what the two Somal
body-servants did for Count Teleki.

Lastly, I must introduce our cook, Mhogo, an old negro,
who had travelled with Speke and Cameron already. He

D 2

36 PREPARATIONS IN ZANZIBAR AND ON THE COAST

was not what you would call a first-rate caterer for the table,
but from long experience he was quite unrivalled in knowing
how to manage in the wilds; he always carried his ewn cook-
ing-apparatus, one of the heaviest of all the loads; so that,
take him all round, he was a great acquisition.

We had brought some first-rate pack-saddles for the donkeys
from Europe with us, but our people only shook their heads
over them, and, what with their clumsiness in using the con-
trivances for fastening on the loads, and the stubbornness with
which the animals themselves resisted the new style of packing,
we only used these saddles until we had had some made of ox-
hide in the usual fashion of the country.

Furthermore, there was no fault to find with our own
personal equipment, and I will only add here that we had
secured a certain amount of comfort for ourselves on the
journey, Count Teleki being, as already stated, an experienced
sportsman. He had also had much valuable advice from Sir
Richard Burton, and he had taken every possible precaution
before leaving home to lessen the inevitable friction and worry
of a long journey through the wilderness.

We were splendidly provided with weapons too. The well-
known English firm of Holland & Holland had supplied us
with a first-rate set of good shooting guns and rifles, which
never once throughout our Expedition left us in the lurch.
These included two double-barrelled 8-bore rifles, firing solid
bullets of hardened lead and a charge of tcn drachms of powder ;
one 577-bore Express rifle, for explosive and ordinary bullets,
powder charge six drachms; one 10-bore rifle; two 500-bore
Express rifles, with a powder charge of five drachms ; two so-
called Paradox guns, which fire either shot or bullets ; and
various other guns.

We had also a very good supply of instruments for taking
observations, for although our Expedition was not strictly speak-

OUR HOPES AND ASPIRATIONS ai

ing a scientific one, we were anxious to do what in us lay to
further the cause of science.

Many days now passed in feverish activity, which only
ended at sunset; and of an evening we used to sit with Issa ben
Madi and Jumbe Kimemeta talking over again, and yet again,
the details of our journey. We left our guides altogether out
of these meetings, so that they might know from the first that
they would not share our deliberations. For them the one
aim of the Expedition was Baringo na mbele kidogo-—to get to
Baringo and a little farther—whilst our idea was to penetrate
to the then quite unknown districts on the north of Baringo, as
yet unvisited even by native caravans, and in which some geo-
graphers said there was one lake, whilst others thought there
were two big sheets of water. Our route thither would lead
us past the noted mountains of Kilimanjaro and Kenia, which
we meant to visit, and we hoped to open up the now shunned
and dreaded Kikuyu country.

On the evening of February 3, Issa ben Madi, who had
helped us so heartily in our preparations, took leave of us, with
many expressions of regret on both sides. Gladly would he
have gone with us all the way, but the Sultan could not spare
him for so long. Jumbe Kimemeta left us, too, to see to
some business of his own at Pangani; but he promised to rejoin
us ina few days, catching us up by making forced marches.
And our men were told to be ready to start at daybreak the
next morning.

VOL I. vp A

CHAPTER II

FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

Start from Mawia—The march interrupted by an attack from bees—Mutinous
scene at Leva—I go back to Zanzibar—Our books and maps are stolen—
Kimemeta arrested for debt—March to Korogwe—The battle of Kwa Mgumi—
The Count starts for Sembodja, whilst I follow the course of the Pangani—
Mafi—Sultan Sedenga—Further wanderings-—We meet again at Mikocheni—
Count Teleki’s account of his adventures—We part again—Character of the
districts south of Pangani—I make acquaintance with an African thorn thicket
—The Wapare—A ‘nyika’ district described—My first leopard—Along the
base of the Pare and Same mountains—I join Count Teleki again—His adven-
tures amongst the Masai—First sight of Kilimanjaro—Arrival at Taveta.

Earty in the morning of February 4 we were roused for the
first time by the noisy preparations of a caravan about to start.
We soon discovered that we had been roused too late, for the
greater number of the men were already some hundred paces
from the camp, only waiting for the tents to be struck and the
signal to be given to be off. They did not have to wait for us
long. Very soon sounded a shrill, discordant blast from the
barghum, or trumpet of Kudu antelope horn; Count Teleki
placed himself at the head of the force, which as it swayed
from side to side, with much shouting and gesticulating, looked
more like the coils of a long serpent than anything else.

Our camp, but recently so full of life, was now silent and
deserted but for the few donkey-drivers and the half-dozen men
who were to bring up the rear. All the rest had pressed
forward, although there was work left to be done which would
take some hours. The many loads which the Count had been

DIFFICULTIES WITH THE DONKEYS 39

obliged to leave behind lay about in chaotic confusion, and the
donkeys were still grazing untethered on the plains. It was my
business now to collect the remaining cases and bales with the
few men still with me, so as to have them quite ready to hand
over to Jumbe on his_arrival, and then we set to work to
catch and load the donkeys. This was really a task like that of

AT THE HEAD OF THE CARAVAN.

Sisyphus. ‘The animals knew full well that we meant to put
on the grand saddles they had already tried and made such a
fuss about, so as we approached they made off. And when it
came to saddling them, they behaved hke mad creatures.
Their burdens on, they seized the next opportunity to rush off
and roll about till they got rid of the obnoxious loads, and we
could see them quietly grazing again in the distance, when the
whole ceremony had to be gone through once more. When
they discovered that these tactics were no good, the cunning

40 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

erey fellows contented themselves with simply lying down, but
the packages were disarranged all the same; they must be
taken off and repacked. The donkeys were made to get up by
vigorous beating, and once more loaded.

So we worked away unceasingly in the sweat of our brows
till ten o’clock; but as most of the donkeys, after being loaded
some two or three times, continued to he down with their
burdens hopelessly shifted, we came to the conclusion that it
really was no go. So I decided to give up loading the refrac-
tory animals for the present, and to leave their burdens behind
with the rest of our goods, under the care of the elders of the
town, who had meanwhile appeared on the scene. I sent all
the donkeys, including the few who had submitted to be loaded,
on with their drivers to join the caravan, and at last I started
myself, drawing a deep breath of relief at being really on my
way to the wilderness after all the delays. But my joy was of
short duration, for very soon I came to two loads lying on the
eround, whilst the donkeys they belonged to were grazing calmly
in the bush, with their saddles under their bellies. What was I
to do? But Chuma and Baraka, who were the only men I
had with me, quickly came to the rescue, laid down their
weapons, &c., shouldered the loads, and ran with them to the
village. Before the brave fellows were back again, however, I
spied my own steed tied to a tree without its saddle, whilst the
man who had charge of it was taking a svesta in the shade
hard by. ‘The donkey ran away and lost the saddle,’ the man
explained, as if he had nothing whatever to do with it. I
told him he could please himself as to what he did, but he
had better beware of appearing in camp without that saddle,
and later he arrived leading the donkey with its saddle on.

The way now led through tall yellow grass through which
wound a narrow beaten path; but my troubles were not yet
over, and this time the difficulty was with the six big sections

THE MEN BECOME TROUBLESOME Al

of the iron boat, which had been four hours on the road already
and had scarcely advanced a mile. The eighteen bearers,
sturdy fellows enough, were squatting quietly near their loads,
as if determined to see what passive resistance would do. To
my question, ‘What’s the matter?’ they at first answered
nothing, and when I repeated it in a sharper tone they all
growled in chorus, ‘The boat 1s too heavy; we cannot and we
will not carry it.’ I tried to persuade them to go on, speaking
very gently and kindly; but they took absolutely no notice of
me, and, not even deigning to give me a glance, remained
squatting in silence on the ground. Then I went close up to
one man, ordered him to pick up his piece of the boat, and
when he remained stolidly silent, I suddenly seized his stick,
intending to enforce my meaning with it; but the threat was
enough, and more quickly than I had hoped the whole party
resumed their burdens and set off again.

So passed the first day’s march; and the reader will
readily imagine that I very soon gave up the idea that one can
wander about in Africa in a light-hearted, careless way. And
sulky porters or refractory donkeys are not the only things to
damp one’s spirits. It is no light matter to have to follow the
winding red line our route describes. Again and again compass
and chronometer must be consulted, and notes made in the log-
book in the full glare of the sun; the changes in the appearance
of the nearest and most distant heights must be noted or
sketched ; and the path, but a few inches wide, leads through
thick and thin, now south, now east, now north, now west, in the
most bewildering manner. More weary and worn than I had
ever been before in my life, I entered the camp near the
village of Kitifu at two o’clock after this first day’s march.

And Count Teleki had had plenty of worries too. The
men had scarcely marched an hour before they began to lay
down their loads and to talk about camping. This was the

AD FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

second time they had tried to interfere in the conduct of the
Expedition. The bearing of the people was a foretaste of
what we might expect, and a revelation of the kind of spirit by
which they were animated. It was easy to see what would
happen if we yielded to their demands. Count Teleki tho-
roughly understood all the bearings of the case, but on
account of the readiness to desert, which always characterises

‘SIR, PEOPLE WANT TO CAMP.’

the beginning of an expedition, he was unwilling to pro-
ceed to severe measures as long as we were near the coast.
And, truth to tell, in spite of our forbearance, this desertion
soon assumed alarming proportions. But Count Teleki behaved
as if he noticed nothing, and steadily proceeded on his march.
And when, soon afterwards, Muallim Harun, once in the service
of the Mission, who spoke Enelish, came up to him and said,
‘Sir, people want to camp,’ the Count merely answered grimly,

KITIFU 45

‘Yes, but I want to go on. Fortunately the plan answered ;
the people were obliged, however unwillingly, to pick up their
loads and follow him till the next camping-place was reached.
By the time I arrived everything was in perfect order:
our tents were pitched, the loads were sorted into ereat piles,
round about which rose the many little tents of the men. At
the beginning of a journey most of the people own, in addition
to a good shirt and a turban, or some pieces of dress-stuff, a
small tent made of a few lengths of cotton material, for which
they generally cut a stick on the spot; but as time goes on,
and everything not absolutely indispensable is bartered for
food or drink with the natives, whilst the remaining clothes
hang in rags on the persons of their owners, the number of

tents diminishes considerably.

Kitifu is an unimportant little village not far from the
Pangani River, which is here called simply the Ruvu, or the
river. The caravan route leading to it leaves the Pangani at
Mawia, and makes towards the mountain districts of Usambara,
to return after a few days’ journey to the river-banks. It was
very interesting to note how quickly the character of the
scenery changed as we left the river behind us. The ground
became hard and the vegetation sparse, in spite of the still
noticeable influence of the moisture-laden winds from the sea.
The chief plants here were sturdy acacias, amongst which was
one very beautiful variety with a sort of umbrella-like crown
of leaves, apparently placed here on purpose by beneficent
Nature as a shelter to the traveller from the intense heat and
Blare of the: sun. Very typical, too, of the district are the
greyish-ereen prickly euphorbia, resembling in form the well-
known cactus, and the doum palms, in the branches of many
of which grew orchids, the drooping flowers looking in the
distance like gaily-decked birds’ nests.

We only stopped one day in Kitifu, and we saw very little

44 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

of the natives, as we had so much to see to in camp; amongst
other things, which always occupied a long time, was the
giving out of the daily poscho, or food-money, to the men.
Whilst still near the coast, where actual coin circulates, this
was paid in pesas, eight to each man, there being thirty-two
pesas in a rupee, the value of which is about two English
shillings. Later, beads and stuffs took the place of these pesas ;
or sometimes the food itself was distributed, and, of course, had
to be collected in large quantities beforehand. At the begin-
ning of the journey the distribution took place every day, with
the aid of our list of names, and we were thus also enabled to
check the desertions. The illness of many of the people also
gave us plenty to do, especially as some of them knew well
enough that they were not fit for service, and had only enlisted
with a view to securing the advance payment, which they
knew would not be taken back.

Our next halt was to be at Malago Mbaruk. The way
there led first through a flat lowland clothed with tall marsh
grass, and then by a gradual ascent to the hilly district of
Usambara; whilst the last stage of the journey was over a
srassy height, all the vegetation of which had lately been
burnt by the natives, with the result that the heat and glare
made breathing difficult. But we soon gained the welcome
shade of the wood, in which our camp was to be pitched. We
chose a spot where a small clearmg had been made in the
thicket, but it was strewn with the vermin-haunted remains of
huts and all manner of refuse, which we had to clear away to
begin with ; and then the ground had to be thoroughly cleaned.

We meant to go from this camp to Kwa Fungo, on the
north side of Mount Tongwe, but long before we got there our
march was interrupted in a very unexpected manner.

On account of my having to see about other arrangements
for the loads left unappropriated by the sick and the deserters,

THE MEN ATTACKED BY BEES A5

it was not until Count Teleki had been gone some time that I
was able to follow him with my troop of men. I hastened on
as fast as the increasing density of the vegetation on the route
would allow, and we had been scarcely an hour on the road
when we came up with the rest of the caravan. We were
astonished at this speedy reunion, but had scarcely had time
to express our surprise before we were overwhelmed with
dismay at the condition in which we found the whole party.
Bearers and loads lay about the ground in hopeless confusion,
the men quite motionless, with faces buried in the grass, whilst
here and there a donkey, trembling convulsively in every limb
and panting for breath, stamped about, every now and then
kicking out wildly. Perfect silence reigned in the woods
around till Maktubu and Chuma, both completely covered
with bees, and with a swarm of the same insects closely pursuing
them, rushed toward us. The mystery was solved, and we
lost not an instant in flying to the rescue of the poor fellows,
beating off the insects with clothes and cloths. It took a long
time to drive off the ever-fresh swarms, which settled again
on the victims without, strange to say, attacking us; but we
succeeded at last. It was more difficult to deal with the other
poor fellows who had been stung, and whose heads and faces
were so fearfully swollen that their eyes could scarcely be seen
at all. We rubbed the sores with ammonia liniment to the
accompaniment of cries of pain, and although at first the
adventure had rather amused us, we soon changed our minds
when we saw what fearful suffering had been inflicted, deciding
to remain as quiet as possible in the wood till the bees were
dispersed. Then I tried to persuade the men to resume the
march ; but I spoke to deaf ears, they were all still in too much
pain and terror, and it was not until the news arrived that
Count Teleki was encamped only ten minutes’ march farther
on, in the village of Leva, that they began to move forwards.

46 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

Count Teleki told me later that the caravan had been three
times attacked by bees, and each time at the cry of ‘ Njuki’ (bees)
the wildest confusion prevailed. The last attack was the worst,
as the number of the bees was very much greater. He himself
escaped with three stings, but these three were dangerously
near his eyes.

The little Washenzi village of Lewa is 487 feet above the
sea-level, on a low spur of Mount Tongwe. The huts of the
natives rose from amidst a dense thicket of thorn-bushes and
interlaced plants; and the village was further protected on the
side of the caravan route by a palisade with one strong gate,
forming the sole entrance to the settlement. Our camp was
pitched quite close to this gate, and commanded a beautiful
view of Mount Tongwe and the distant lowlands.

This is the kind of camping-place, close to a village, which
the Wangwana' love, for in such an one they can procure ae
and cheaply all that the country supplies.

The Zanzibari delights, above all things, in playing the part
of agrand seignior and making the natives wait upon him. So
it was here. The people of the village provided huts, their
wives brought food, did the cooking, &c., in short, waited
hand and foot on the Zanzibari, whilst the latter amused them-
selves and drank pombe, or banana wine. The men soon became
wildly excited, and the noise of revelry from the village was
perpetual. We should not have minded this much if it had not
led to trouble. A number of saucy fellows bent on mischief
surrounded the cattle we were taking with us as reserve stock,
and, after chasing them about, flung them to the ground and
played all manner of rough tricks on them. Then—we could

scarcely believe our eyes—we saw blood flowing in streams from

1 ¢Wangwana’ signifies in Swahili the free, in contradistinction to the ‘Watuma,
or slaves; but the word is also wrongly used to describe themselves by members of
caravans consisting almost entirely of slaves.

=

\

AT LEWA.

MUTINOUS SCENE

Soe 5

4
;
7

MUTINY AT LEVA 49

the poor animals; the men had actually dared to kill them! It
was high time to take energetic action. But it is difficult to deal
with drunken men, and as most of our fellows were tipsy, Count
Teleki contented himself with sending for the guides, telling
them he should hold them responsible for any further outbreak,
and ordering them to bury the animals. ‘This gave very great
offence, and protests were heard on every side; then the men
all withdrew to the village, where wilder revels than ever were
held. A little later, before the work of burying the oxen was
accomplished, a feeble-looking old man came out of the village,
and, squatting down on the ground close to Count Teleki, he
unfolded the mission with which he had been entrusted as the
representative of our men. For a long time he talked to deaf
ears ; but at last he succeeded in, to some extent, mollifying
Count Teleki, especially as the guides chimed in with an
entreaty that he would not insist on his order being carried
out. Soitwasrescinded. The incident was now, as we thought,
over, and we forgot all about it, the more quickly as we were
soon afterwards surprised by the arrival of Mr. W. Joost, an
officer of the German East African Company, who was on his
way to Koroewe.

Glad of his companionship, we were sitting outside my tent
as the sun was setting, chatting away, without thinking that the
gathering of a number of men round us meant anything. We
knew well enough how inquisitively the Zanzibari stare at any
nhew-comer, or at anything at all out of the way. But the
number of men continually increased, until at last the whole
caravan was assembled, most of the men having their weapons
with them. Things began to look serious, so Count Teleki
asked them what they wanted.

Then one man stood forth from amongst the crowd and
made a speech, the upshot of which was that they were all
discontented with the way they were treated—with the food,

WOOL: 1. E

50 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

and with the weight of the loads. ‘This first speaker did not
seem to meet the approval of those he represented, so out
stepped another and made the same complaint, winding up,
however, by saying that they all meant to go back to Zanzibar,
an assertion confirmed, when the second spokesman concluded
his haraneue, by a general howl from the bystanders.

Threatening as was the scene, we did not fear any overt act
of violence, and felt sure that, evenif any were attempted, a few
lashes from a whip would bring the men to their senses. As,
however, most of the mutineers were still muddled with drink,
we thought it best to stay our hands for the present and try
what words would do. So Count Teleki contented himself with
replying that if they really wanted to go to Zanzibar he would
himself lead them there, and give them over to the Sultan to be
punished. The quiet manner in which the Count spoke led
the rebels to think at first that their cause was won, and this
made the howls of disappomtment the louder when he con-
cluded his speech, especially as he rose at the last words and
advanced upon the spokesman as if to seize him. Raging like
a lot of devils let loose, and even firing their guns, the men
drew off to the village, from which mad cries continued to
reach us.

As long as it was only powder that they discharged we
did not mind; but presently we heard the patter of shot, and
some foliage from the trees fell upon our tents. The joke was
being carried too far now, so we at once seized. our own
weapons and called to the Somal guard—who had taken no
share whatever in the disturbance—to disarm the men, and in
case of any resistance to fire upon them. Of course we did
not mean to proceed to extremities if we could help it, but the
order did not fail to have the desired effect. Peace was restored,
and the guides interceded for the Zanzibari, declaring that the
whole affair was but the sport of saucy, overgrown children,

DESERTION OF PORTERS Ou

such as the Zanzibari ever were aud ever would be, and that
they never would have behaved as they had but for the pombe
they had drunk. So we did not insist on the taking away of
the weapons, especially as the men, worn out with fatigue, were
soon reduced to absolute quietude by falling asleep.

The next morning we were, as usual, roused by the noisy
_ preparations for the day’s march, the monotonous cries of the
Askari as they saddled the donkeys, and the loud shouts of the
euides as they gave their orders. As usual, Count Teleki
gave the signal to start, and when everything appeared ready
placed himself at the head of the people, who seemed to file
forth into a long line more quickly than ever before, as if they
were anxious to make up by extra zeal to-day for their mis-
demeanours of yesterday. But, alas! the fact could not long
be disguised, as the village became empty, that fifty loads were
left upon the ground, their bearers having availed themselves
of the darkness of the night to slp off. And round about the
bales and cases squatted the villagers, protected up to their
chins from the early morning freshness by their kaniki cloths,
gloating upon the position in which I was left. Vainly I
offered them large sums if they would but help to take these
loads as far as Kwa Fungo, our next halting-place ; the fair
sex alone, with their natural tender-heartedness, were ready to
help me, tested the weight of the packages, and even began
to bargain with us about taking them; but in the end they did
not dare go against the orders of their lords and masters. At
last I begged the chief of the village to find me some porters ;
but he only shrugged his shoulders scornfully, and said he had
no porters, nor could he get any. There was nothing for it
but to leave these loads behind; and even that this chief would
not agree to. Then I quite lost patience, seized the man by
the arm, and shaking him as hard as I could, I told him through
an interpreter that he would either take the loads at once to a

E 2

O2 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

dry hut, or come on with me himself in chains. This was the
tight line to take; the hut was found in no time, and everyone
began to help us at once.

We now marched through a hilly and here and there well-
wooded district, dotted with wayside villages, to Kwa Fungo,
where the main body of the caravan was already encamped.
The first thing I did was, of course, to tell Count Teleki of the
mishap about the porters, and we both realised the urgent
necessity of pushing on as rapidly as possible, to avoid any
more desertions en masse. Now the question was, how was this
to be done? and we soon decided that, with a view to catching
up the fugitives, or perhaps even outstrippmg them, I must
make for Zanzibar at once, and at the same time try to se-
cure fresh porters at Pangani. I might also hurry up Jumbe
Kimemeta, with other loiterers, and, lastly, bring back with
me the goods left at Mawia.

So, very early the next morning I was off with ten men
only, headed by Maktubu, and a very little light Iugeage. I
made very rapid forced marches to the coast, and though we
thoroughly searched every village by the way, we reached
Mawia the same evening. Jumbe Kimemeta was, most fortu-
nately, there already, and he got us a boat at once, so that we
were able to go on that very night.

We had travelled some thirty-one miles in the heat of the
sun, and [ was dreadfully tired; but for all that I could not
tear myself away from the beautiful scenes through which we
passed in this night trip. In the narrow backwater through
which our course first led us it was the fairy-hke beauty of
the banks, lit up by myriads of fire-fles, which held me en-
chained; and when we turned into the main stream it was the
magic charm of the utter stillness, broken only now and then
by the mysterious voices of Nature, and I remained awake
until we landed at sunrise at Bwen1.

4
:
y.
4
7

HUNTING THE FUGITIVES aa

I now sent some of my men on, as if they, too, were fugi-
tives, to hunt for their lost comrades, securing their fidelity by
promising two dollars reward for every runaway brought back.
They very soon returned with the news that they had already
handed two defaulters over to Wali. Of course the reason
of my return thus became known, and I was able to go to
Pangani myself and secure the further co-operation of Wal.

The best course seemed to be to blockade the coast, so as
to make it very difficult for our deserters to reach Zanzibar.
With this end in view, Wali had to write and send off
despatches to the chiefs of the most important places on the
coast, an arduous task ; but he seemed willing enough to serve
us in every way, the more, perhaps, as he knew we were our-
selves bound for Zanzibar. This greatly lessened the work I
had to do, and I was able to begin to think of pressing forward.
I left Maktubu, with eight men, on the look-out at Pangani,
whilst I started myself with the remaining two the next night
for Zanzibar. As there was no better vessel to be had at once,
and we were eager to be gone, we had to make the passage in
an open boat; but it turned out a very bad sailer, and we
were thirty long hours upon the sea before we reached our
destination.

My sudden appearance of course took all our friends and
acquaintances by surprise; and I could not have arrived at a
more unfortunate moment, as two events had just taken place
which were fully engaging the attention of everybody in
Zanzibar. A German trader, Dr. Jiihlke by name, had been
murdered by some Somal at Kismaju, at the mouth of the Juba
river, and the German authorities demanded of the Sultan the
execution of the murderers. Now Sultan Seyid Burgash had a
superstitious horror of inflicting the penalty of death; he had
never yet signed a death-warrant, and it went to his heart to
have to do it now. But he was obliged to yield, and General

54 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

Matthews was just about to start for Kismaju with 250 soldiers
of the Sultan’s army, escorted by the German Imperial sloop-
of-war, ‘Olga.’ Besides this, an ultimatum with regard to some
frontier disputes with the Portuguese had just been received
by the Sultan, so that the political horizon was considerably
clouded.

T naturally thought that I should not get much attention
for my small affair; but Mr. W. Oswald and Dr. Gregory accom-
plished all I wanted much more quickly than I had ventured to
hope. The best thing they did for me was to get the Sultan to
order all the dhows in harbour to be searched, with the result
that the very next day seven of our men were apprehended. His
Highness was at first very much against these fellows taking
any further share in our Expedition, saying he would keep
them in prison till we returned, and have them bastinadoed
every Friday; in the end he consented to my taking them
back with me in chains, as an example to the rest of the men,
a tate which five of them, however, managed to elude by
escaping from the prison the night before I left Zanzibar.

After five days’ stay I left Zanzibar once more. The dhow
in which I was to go back to Pangani was to have started at
two in the afternoon, but the captain did not come on board
till sunset; I am thankful to say, however, that he looked
after the steering of his ship, and twenty-four hours afterwards
I was at the landing-place, although from three to six days are
generally allowed for the trip at this time of year.

I had hardly stepped on shore before I was met with the
good tidings that the number of fugitives under lock and key
had risen to seventeen, so that I could devote all my energies
to hirmg other men. ‘The difficulties in this direction were,
alas! as great as ever, and, in spite of all my struggles, I only
secured some forty porters in the six days I remained at Bweni.
I was equally unsuccessful in my efforts to hasten the prepara-

OUR BOOKS AND MAPS STOLEN 5d

tions of some of the men we had hired on our first visit to
Pangani, but who had not been ready to start when we did.
Some were really ill, others had always meant to cheat us. But
with the latter I made short work, and sent them, with the
exception of those who were able to pay back the whole of the
advance-money received, to Zanzibar to be punished.

On February 21 the guide, Ali Schaongwe, accompanied by

FLOGGING THE FUGITIVES AT PANGANI.

twenty men, arrived, to our great astonishment, like the
messengers of Job, with the news that a day or two before a
porter had run away with one of the most valuable of the loads,
that containing all our scientific books and maps. According
to Ali’s story, Count Teleki had halted in Kwa Fungo on
February 8, in order to send back to Leva for the goods left
there. The next day he had pressed on to Mruasi, a little
Washenzi village on the Niusi stream, some natives helping as

56 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

porters. As there was a chance here of buying some ox-hides
to make saddle-bags for the mules, the caravan halted yet
another day, and it was then that the misfortune occurred.
Jount Teleki at once sent out his most trustworthy men to
scour the country after the thieves, himself going on to Kwa
Futo, the next village; but, alas! the scouts soon returned
without any news of the fugitives, in spite of their having
been spurred on to exertion by the promise of a very high
reward. On the 14th the caravan pushed on to Korogwe,
a station of the German East African Company, where Count
Teleki decided to await my arrival. Meanwhile the Count,
missed thirteen other loads, and sent off my mformer, with
twenty trusty men, to try and recover them. Ali Schaongwe
and his party had thoroughly searched the whole district on
either side of the hne of march down to the coast; but it was
in vain, and we had to give up all hope of ever seeing our
books, &c., again. Nevertheless, I brought all the influence I
could to bear on the search, and in a letter I wrote to the
missionaries stationed in Maguila I begged them to use their
influence on our behalf, and by promising a considerable bonus
to the finder of anything I roused up the whole population of
Bweni and Pangani. In another letter to Zanzibar I laid
special stress on the recovery, above everything else, of our
books and maps. But it was all labour lost; and though my
newly hired porters could not be got to advance, I did not lke
to keep Count Teleki waiting any longer, so I decided to start
again on February 24. One thing, however, must be done at
once, and that was, punish the fugitives as an example to the
rest; so | went to Wah, and he carried out my instructions
by having them publicly flogged by the gaoler of the prison, the
red flag of the Sultan floating from a wall hard by. Then
they were chained together in groups of four and sent to
Mawia with Schaongwe and the rest of the men. I was very

JUMBE KIMEMETA ARRESTED FOR DEBT om

anxious to get Jumbe Kimemeta to go on with me, as I knew
Count Teleki wanted to get the whole caravan together. Living,
as I did, in Kimemeta’s house, I had plenty of opportunities of
watching him. I knew his preparations were not completed,
so I gave little credence to his repeated assurances that he
would go on with me; and the very last day an incident occurred
altogether hostile to our wishes, namely, the arrest of Kimemeta
for debt. Two men appeared with a warrant procured by
some East Indian merchants of Zanzibar, to whom he owed
money, and marched him off to prisonin Pangan. A few hours

THE PUNISHMENT OF CHAINING TOGETHER. a

later he was back again, but only to tell me about it all. Of
course I protested earnestly against his being locked up again,
and declared that His Highness the Sultan, who took so great
an interest in our Expedition, could not possibly wish the one
man we wanted most of all, and whom we had already paid, to
be taken from us. Wali kindly lent a favourable ear to my
representations, and Kimemeta was set free. [I hoped that he
would himself now be anxious to get away from the scene of his
arrest ; but not a bit of it, and at last I was obliged to start for
Mawia without him.

58 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

In Mawia I was kept two days at the weary task of dividing
loads, &c.; but at the last minute I got a few more men, and
then I was off. The clanking of the fetters of the chained men
exercised a wholesome influence, and after one day’s march I
reached Leva, the unlucky spot whence I had started to go
back to Zanzibar. There I got disquieting news from Count
Teleki, which made me push on more eagerly than ever.
There had been a regular fight with guns between his men and
the people of the big village, Kwa Meumi, near to which he
had camped, and not a few had been killed and wounded
on both sides. A kind of truce had now been patched up,
but the position of our party was anything but secure or
pleasant.

I did the thirty-seven miles which separated me from
Count Teleki in forty-eight hours, reaching his camp on the
second day. ‘The way there led first through an undulating
district, dotted with trees growing sinely, as in the orchards
of Europe; and then, just at the hottest and most glaring
part of the day, across parched and barren plains. On
the left we had all along our course the dark vegetation-
fringed shores of the Pangani, whilst on the right rose the
precipitous heights of Usambara, and in the distance before us
we could see the pleasant-lcoking bluish-green woods hning
the banks of the Lwengera stream, which seemed to be
advancing to meet us. At last we reached the cool shade
of the trees, feeling almost chilly after the great heat we had
passed through; but we had not long revelled in the march
beside the rushing water before we were again on unsheltered,
arid steppes. Another half-hour’s march, however, and we
were opposite the island in the Pangani from which rose the
village of Kwa Meumi. Crowds of natives.at once appeared,
and we advanced with caution towards the bridge connecting
the island with the mainland; but we soon found that the men

JT REJOIN COUNT TELEKI AT KOROGWE a9

were animated by curiosity only. Without halting at all, and
in perfect silence on both sides, not so much as a cry being
raised by the natives, we quickly passed close to -the village,
and at the same moment we heard, to our delight, two shots
fired, as a greeting to us, from Korogwe, the German station,
occupying a low height hard by. Then came a messenger to
tell us that Count Teleki was just then at the station; so my
men went on to the camp by the river, whilst I hastened to
Korogwe, and very soon I had the pleasure of meeting Count
Teleki once more, in the presence of Messrs. Braun, Joost,
and Bauer, then occupying the station.

Count. Teleki had heard all the latest news from Herr
Braun, the superintendent of the station, and was enjoying a
happy discussion as to the prospects of sport, &c., when the
quarrel with the natives put an end to his ightheartedness.

The beginning of the difhculty was the carrying off by a
Paris belonging to our camp of a black Helen from the village,
‘the result of which was that the natives refused to trade with
our people, picked quarrels about everything, and finally came
to blows. Our old Manwa Sera, who acted the part of Paris
and Achilles alike in the imbrogho, was not content with clubs
and fists, but rushed into the camp, and, in the absence of Count
Teleki, called on the people to rise against the Washenzi, as the
natives of the districts behind Pangani are called, and led the
men down then and there to the bridge leading to the village,
where the natives, fully armed and prepared, awaited their
onslaught. Manwa gave the order to fire, and hundreds of
guns were let off on both sides. Count Teleki, who was just
then leaving the station for the camp, of course heard the
uproar, but thought at first that it merely indicated the

' ¢Washenzi’ is also used as a term of contempt for the natives of what the
Germans call the Hinterland—that is to say, all the districts of Africa not yet
appropriated by Europeans.—TRANS.

60 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

arrival of a fresh caravan. However, he hastened to the
bridge with his Somal guard, to find the conflict at its fiercest.
The natives had broken down the bridge, and drawn back into
the village, from which they had driven out all our men, who,
though quite unprotected on the banks or in the river itself,
were returning their fire with interest. Supported by Messrs.
Braun and Joost, who had hastened to the rescue, Count
Teleki, not without great risk to his own life, ‘at last suc-
ceeded in making the men stop firmg, but not until there had
been many casualties. ‘Two of our people were killed and two
seriously wounded, whilst seven of the natives were mortally
injured. Manwa Sera, who throughout kept his station at the
end of the bridge and continued firing into the village, escaped
unhurt ; and our people were so enraged and eager to go on
fighting that it was only when he threatened to shoot down
those who did not obey him that Count Teleki induced them
to cease firing and draw off.

The natives now broke off all intercourse with our people,
and every day hundreds of armed men flocked into the village
to their aid, till there were thousands against us. Under these
threatening circumstances Count Teleki of course prepared
for further hostilities, the more reluctantly that there was
scarcely anything left to eat in his camp; but fortunately
Herr Braun managed to patch up a peace, and re-established
something of a semblance of friendliness between the two
parties.

Count Teleki, who was eager to continue lis journey,
determined, as there was now nothing to prevent it, to go on
the next day, but certain circumstances rendered it necessary
to divide the forces. General Matthews, eager to help us in
every way, had of his own free will bought a lot of things for
us which he thought would be useful; but we had not yet
received them, for, thinking we should go to Masinde, the head-

WE START AGAIN AFTER DIVIDING OUR FORCES 61

quarters of Sultan Sembodja, of Usambara, he had sent them
there; moreover, soon after his arrival at Korogwe, Count
Teleki, with a view to lessening the difficulties of transit, had
sent a number of loads up-stream in advance of the main body.
So we had to part again, the Count going to Sultan Sembodja’s,
whilst I was to follow the stream to Masai; Mikocheni, a well-
known camping-place on the Pangani, being decided on as our
rendezvous.

On March 1, then, Count Teleki started with eighty men
to skirt along the Usambara highlands to Masinde. I indulged
myself and my men in a day’s rest—necessary, too, for reorgan-
ising the caravan—and the next morning I took leave of the
friendly gentlemen of the station, near to which such an unlucky
incident had occurred. The station, though on a hill, is sur-
rounded by swampy meadows, and cannot, I fancy, be very
healthy. I noted in the course of this trip that nearly all the
stations of the German East African Company are in similar
situations. Probably the luxuriant vegetation surrounding them
is the attraction.

So far we had been in districts occupied by Washenzi,
but at the village of Kwa Megumi begins the Usegua country,
which, especially on the banks of the Pangani, forming its
northern boundary, is thickly peopled. On this river live the
Wasegua—that is to say, the natives of Usegua, a single inhabi-
tant being M-seeua, whilst the language spoken is Ki-segua. M
and Wa are very usual prefixes to denote numbers in all Bantu
dialects, whilst Ki often serves to indicate the language. For
instance, we have U-ganda, M-ganda, and Ki-ganda; Ta-veta,
M-taveta, Wa-taveta, and Ki-taveta. The Wasegua on the
Pangani are also ‘sometimes spoken of as the Waruvu, or
dwellers on the river, Ruvu, as we have already seen, meaning
the river. Most of their villages are on islands in the river,
which gives them a very strong position. I suppose there are

62 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

some twenty-five or thirty such villages on the Pangani, the
people of which are agriculturists and cattle-breeders.

Our march to Mafi, which took three days, was in a north-
north-westerly direction as far as Mautui. Here the Usambara
mountains approach quite close to the river; but they soon
seem to draw back into the distance, again rising up some nine
to eleven miles off as a massive wall unrelieved by any peaks.
Three isolated mountains, known as Ukunga, Mafi, and Ngai,
however, varying in height from 1,150 to 1,500 feet, rise up from
the plains between the Usambara range and the river.

On the second day we camped near the village of Mualeni,
the road there leading us across the Mkomasi stream, which we
crossed close to its mouth in the Pangani. A frail bridge
made of the strong midribs of the water palm was the only
connection between the banks, but it would not bear the weight
of heavily-ladenmen. Some had to wade through the water—
a difficult matter, on account of the dense overhanging foliage
and the uneven bed, full of hidden holes and pitfalls. It was
some hours before we could leave Mualeni, where for the first
time I got a good shot, such as I had eagerly desired for so long,
at some big African game.

A native lad, who was minding some goats hard by, told
me that there were nearly always a lot of hippopotami amongst
the islands and rapids of the Pangani, and I eagerly acted on
his hint, as I had so far seen next to nothing ofthe wild animals
of the country. The place the boy led me to bore unmistak-
able traces of being a favourite landine-place of the thick-
skinned river-horses, and though there were none in sight at
the moment, there was every chance of patient waiting being
rewarded with success. And very soon, some ten paces
from where I stood, the huge bulk of a hippopotamus rose
almost completely out of the water. My charge from my
Express rifle hit him in the middle of the forehead, there was a

MY FIRST HIPPOPOTAMUS 63

oreat crash, and witha fearful cry the animal, wounded to death,

rolled over into the depths of the river. I saw him no more.

on Pik
{Via WodtWeSVe—
AWS

S SERA

ne

S SES Rape

FIRST HIPPOPOTAMUS.

On the morning of March 6 we reached the large village
of Mkarama, the residence of Sedenga, Sultan of Waruvu, not

64 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

far from which was Mafi, our next halting-place. When
Sedenga heard we meant to go on he did all he could to per-
suade us to camp near him; but I held to my original purpose,
in spite of the great heat and the passive resistance of my men,
who had counted on all the revelry of a reception at such an
important place.- The last bit of the road led across a bare
sandy steppe, which was, however, peopled with numerous
cranes, the first I had seen. A good hour had passed, and
we were beginning to long to bein sight of our goal, before we
at last spied a palisade, in front of which stood a European in
white clothes. This was Herr Brausche, the superintendent of
the station of Mafi, on whose invitation I had my tent pitched
and the loads piled up inside the fence, whilst the men camped
by the side of the river in the Waruvu village of Kalole.

The station was enclosed in a very strong palisade some forty
paces square. On one side were the dwelling-house, a kitchen,
and a store-house, miserable looking mud huts, not at all worthy
of the neat and carefully kept surroundings. But soon from
the kitchen issued appetising sounds of preparation for my
reception, which quickly cut short my architectural strictures.

The station, which was, however, soon after abandoned,
was situated at the foot of the well-wooded Mount Mafi, at a
height of 900 feet above the sea-level, and was, according to
Herr Brausche, perfectly free from fever, although there was a
wide-stretching swamp hard by, haunted by many different
kinds of birds.

I decided to stop here two days, as 1 could procure ox-
hides for making the saddles required, and the loads would
have to be re-arranged to take up the forty packages I had
to carry forward from Mafi.

The saddle used by the natives in this part of Africa is a
very simple but most practical affair, so that it was really
better to stick to the old fashion. The back of the animal is

= pies

A NATIVE PACK-SADDLE 65

well protected by a big cushion stuffed with grass, on which
the saddle is placed. This saddle is a half-tanned ox-hide from
which the hair has been removed, forming two big bags, which
hang down on either side of the animal. All that is necessary
is to take care that the weights on either side are equal, and
the animal, once laden, gives no further trouble, as the saddle

ASS WITH LADEN PACK-SADDLE.

never slips. Such loads as wire or beads are simply put into
the pockets and left there, even when the saddles are taken off.
The next morning Sultan Sedenga appeared at the station
with a large following of men. Herr Brausche, who had
not expected him, and was, in fact, on bad terms with him,
took absolutely no notice of his arrival, and as I was at
the moment very busy dividing the loads, I had not much
time to spare for him either. He did not, however, seem at all
disconcerted by our coolness, and when I at last bade him
welcome in good Kiruvu, he responded pleasantly enough.
VOL. I. F

66 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

Waruvu etiquette demands that the following dialogue should be
gone through at every meeting. For instance, if M-ruvu A.
meets M-ruvu B., they do not part till the following conver-
sation has taken place :—

A. to B. B. to A, eae

agaim
Kilo vedi ? (Did you have a good night ?) Him ! Hm!
Si vedi? (Did you have a good day ?) Hm ! Hm!
Ho kaja ? (Is all well at home ?) Hm! Hm!
Ho kaja kilo vedi? (Did they all have a good night ?) Hm ! Hm!
Mzima ? (Are you well ?) Hm! Hm!
Sana (Very well) Hm! Hm!
Yambo (Bless you !) Hm! Hm!

And when A. has finished his questions, B. begins, and the
whole thing is gone through again.

When Sedenga and I had duly performed this ceremony, he
explained to me that his visit was to me alone, as he was no
friend of Herr Brausche. After my last long-drawn-out Hm !
I looked at Sedenga more closely, to see what manner of man
he was, and noted that he was short and plump, wearing an
ordinary Arab shirt, and a turban pushed carelessly over the
left shoulder. His face was deeply pitted by small-pox, and
his expression was solemn but not particularly intelligent. He
had prominent eyes and full lips, whilst his hands and feet
were small and well formed. After a short silence I invited
Sedenga into my tent to make him a present, which I had
asked Herr Brausche to get for me meanwhile, as I was not
yet very well up in the requirements of native etiquette in the
matter of gifts. When I was about to present Sedenga with
the things—a few yards of merikani, a fez, and some lessos '—
he began, instead of taking them, to storm about in sucha

manner that I could hardly help laughing. ‘ What!’ he cried
again and again, ‘ this for me !—for me, the Sultan of Waruvu!’
1 A lesso is a coloured handkerchief, about the size of a small. tablecloth, made

in various colours and designs. The Swahili women wear them in winter, one
round the body, and another on the head and shoulders.—TRANs.

=e

SULTAN SEDENGA 67

contemptuously holding up now the fez, and now the stuff; and
SO On. :

Later I saw what a mistake had been made in offering to
a man of the Sultan’s position goods worth no more than a
few shillings, but in my ignorance I controlled my amusement
with difficulty. Reflecting, however, that I should ill serve
Herr Brausche if 1 widened the breach between him and his
neighbour, | set to work to try and mollify his irate Sultan-
ship, with speedy results. I explained to him with a solemn
air that the Wasangu, or Europeans, were ever openhanded
with their friends, but how was 1 to know that he, Sedenga,
was my friend, when he had brought me no such gift as was
everywhere customary—not an ox, not a goat, not even a
little fowl? This speech of mine made a deep impression, and
it was now Sedenga’s turn to look crestfallen, as I rubbed my
palms together in an effective pantomime, meaning that I had
been welcomed with absolutely empty hands. And the Sultan
presently observed that he would leave me now and return
the next day ; so for the present the shauri was over.

Herr Brausche, who had been for months at daggers drawn
with Sedenga—a most unfortunate position for him, as the
Sultan had forbidden any of his men to do him the slightest
service—now begged me to try and bring about a reconcilia-
tion, which, of course, I was very ready to do; and when
Sedenga returned the next morning, bringing with him two
fine oxen, | made it my first care to try and get him to make
it up with Herr Brausche.

It appeared that the Sultan’s quarrel was not with Herr
Brausche, but with the German East African Company, who
had promised him a big present, but never sent it. Herr
Brausche admitted the truth of this, and brought out some
goods and money at once, so that everything was soon ami-
cably settled between the two. But Sedenga was not satisfied

FQ

68 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

with my increased gifts, and kept on demanding more, till I

4

put an end to the discussion by a decisive ‘ Either -—— or

In such difficulties with native chiefs much patience and
time are needed, and the delays would be endless if the travel-
ler dealt with them himself; but, as a rule, we had nothing to
do with them, Jumbe Kimemeta and Qualla settling every-
thing for us.

On March 9 I started again with a happy heart, for only
two men had made off this time, although nothing could have
been easier than flight from the camp at Kalole. We soon
passed Kwekonewe, the last Waruvu village; and thence the
route led along the river-bank, through districts partly un-
inhabited and partly tenanted only by wandering tribes of
Masai. We halted at midday by the stream.

Now that we were really approaching the desert the caravan
kept together much better. The httle tents of the men were
pitched closer together, and the hedge of prickly bushes pro-
tecting our animals at night grew higher and thicker; whilst
in the stillness of the evening rang out the cry of the herald of
the camp, Tom Charles, calling on the men to keep good
watch and feed well the fires. The many flickering fires, about
which the men gathered ever more closely, the pitchy dark-
ness of the night, the warning cries of the watchmen, the
increased precautions taken for our protection, all made me
fancy that we were at last in the real unexplored wilderness,
and I was filled with delight at the thought; but, alas! we
were still far away from it, and its actual appearance turned
out to be very different from what I expected.

In the night we were surprised by the arrival of Jumbe
Kimemeta, the Askar, Muyni Bor, from Pangani, and our
two latest fugitives. Kimemeta explained that when he heard
of the fight at Kwa Meumi he had hastened forward, in the
hope of making peace and preventing further bloodshed. I

A LITTLE CONTRETEMPS 69

was the more delighted as I had felt sure he had been arrested
again, and had given up all hope of seeing him.

A little contretenps occurred early the next morning, three
men having run away; but I wrote at once to Herr Brausche,
asking him to have them pursued. We now followed a path
which soon led us away from the river and got rapidly worse,
ending, finally, in an impenetrable thicket. Bedue, who had
gone on in front as the chief guide of the party, and had evi-
dently lost his way, calmly halted here, and said we could go
no farther. Then out stepped the porter, Muhinna Nidiwa (so
named on account of his well-built, sturdy figure), and with
the cry ‘ Follow me!’ placed himself at the head of the caravan,
and calmly forced his way through the thorns, which tore his
clothes to pieces, back to the river. An hour later we were
camped once more by the Pangani. Whilst there another porter
of gigantic stature, Bakuri Wadi Seiff by name, attracted my
attention by the way in which, without any instructions, he
got the loads into order after they were, as usual, flung down
here, there, and everywhere, in hopeless confusion. This
really was the business of the Askari and guides; but I saw
Bakuri toiling on alone for an hour and a haif, only indulging
now and then in a quiet curse at the laziness of the rest. He
did not pause till all was done. Such a sight is wonderfully
cheering to the traveller, who knows too well how untrust-
worthy most of his followers are; and it is of men such as this
that he eventually forms the bodyguard he depends on in
emergencies.

At eleven o'clock on the following night I was roused to
be told that three of the chained men had escaped;. the
fourth of the group had not been disturbed by the proceedings
of the other three, and knew nothing about the matter. Their
fight was, however, soon discovered, and I of course lost not
a moment in sending some men after them; equally of course

70 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

they returned without having seen a trace of the fugitives, for
one crow does not peck out the eyes of another. Through this
delay in starting we got no farther in the next day’s march, in
which we skirted along a small swamp, than to Buiko, a very
uncomfortable halting-place. From some of Count Teleki’s
men who were wandering about in the neighbourhood I heard,
however, that we were only an hour’s journey from Miko-
cheni, the place appointed for our reunion, and as the Count
had already waited there four days, I started very early on
March 12 to join him.

On March 1, the day he had left Korogwe, Count Teleki
had reached Kwa Sigi, where the path leaves the Pangani and
leads to the foot of the Usambararange. During the one night
the caravan halted there they were attacked by driver ants
(Anoonuna arceus) and put to flight. It is astonishing what
havoc these little creatures can make when they attack in force.
As the ery of ‘ Siufa!’ or ants, rmgs through the camp nearly
everyone runs away, and it is always a long time before the few
who retain presence of mind enough to attack the enemy with
hot ashes and glowing embers restore tranquillity and the
night's rest can be resumed.

The next day Count Teleki marched to Makuyuni, a beautiful
and fertile district, which he reached at 4 o’clock in the after-
noon. One of the little streams with which it is watered was
full of leeches, and directly the men stepped into it dozens of
these creatures attached themselves to the poor fellows’ bare
legs. From Makuyuni the caravan pushed on through a swampy
tract to Mombo, where a midday halt was made beneath the
shade of fine trees, chiefly euphorbia and fan palms. The camp
was soon surrounded by men and women, who brought food for
sale. Oxen and sheep were also offered, and Count Teleki
bought several animals for actual money, a cow costing from
thirteen to eighteen dollars, and a goat from four to six rupees.

SULTAN SEMBODJA AT MASINDE 71

In the afternoon the march was resumed across dried-up
swamps, overlooked by rugged heights, to a picturesque little
stream, where the camp was pitched for the night at about five
o’clock in the afternoon. On this day’s journey Count Teleki
shot a great many guinea-fowl and a large, queer-looking bird,
name unknown, not unlike a dodo. It was about the size of a
pelican, with a big black saw-like beak, a red crop, and short
black feet. But for a few white feathers with black tips the
plumage was all black. The men avoided it, as it was evidently
arapacious bird. The neighbourhood was very unhealthy, for
six Swahili and three Somal were taken ill here with fever.

On March 4 Masinde was at last reached. The capital of
Usambara consists of a large number of huts surrounded by a
strong palisade with well-defended entrance-gates. The residence
of the Sultan is really a collection of huts differmeg in nothing
from those of his people except that a separate hedge fences
them round.

Sultan Sembodja sent word that he was eagerly expecting
the visit of the Europeans, so Count Teleki went to pay his
respects in the afternoon in full state, preceded by the euides
and Askari, with the Somal guard bringing up the rear.
Arrived at the residence, they were shown into a hut called a
baraja, which served the purpose of a council-chamber. I
leave Count Teleki to give an account in his own words of
the rest of his experiences :—

‘The hut,’ he says, ‘in which Sembodja awaited me was
already full of negroes, and a most horrible stench greeted me
as I stooped to enter. Sembodja was seated on a /utanda, or
native bed, on one side of the long space, and I seated myself
on a similar one opposite tohim. ‘There was no other furniture,
but the hut was decorated with a few European curiosities, such
as a looking-glass in a gilt frame and a picture of a steam-
engine going at full speed, which were probably presents from

72 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

previous visitors. Sembodja was dressed in Arab style, and
resembled an Arab the more as his complexion, like that of all
the Wambugu, was heht brown. He talked principally about
the Germans, who, he said, were anxious to settle in his country ;
and, as far as he was concerned, they were welcome to do so,
and probably would if they could get the consent of His High-
ness the Sultan of Zanzibar; at which he pointed to the red
flao floating over his house. Then he congratulated me on the
victory at Kwa Mgumi, and offered to punish the natives further
if [were not satisfied with the vengeance already taken on them.
And so the audience went on until I rose to take my leave.
‘The next afternoon Sembodja sent a message to say I
might visit him again. As I had not yet made him a present,
I collected the things | meant for him, and made my way
again to the council-hall, where he was awaiting me. The
bales were then opened in his presence, the valuable contents
of which were four djora merikani, two djora kaniki, several
lessos, two coarse brown caftans, two cases of gin, 15 lb. of
fine gunpowder, a pocket watch, a bottle of Eno’s Fruit Salt, a
few picture-books, and an empty metal flask. Sembodja, who
watched everything eagerly as the contents of bale after bale
were laid before him, seemed anything but satisfied, and after
fidgeting about for some time on his kitanda, he suddenly
jumped up, called to Qualla to accompany him, and left the
hut. Outside he said to Qualla, in a most unabashed manner :
Tell your master that I am a great Sultan,.and I want money,
lots of money, hunting weapons, and medicine, and not all
that rubbish.” Qualla, who held all negroes, whether high or
low, in much the same contempt, did not hesitate to answer
the Usambara chief briefly and drily, to the effect that his.
master was a very much greater Sultan than he, and that he
had already received a great deal more than enough. Then
Sembodja returned, with some little loss of assurance, squatted

SEMBODJA’S WARNING ie

down near me, and began talking about the Masai, and the
dread he was in from them; after which he proceeded to beg.
I cut him short at once, told him to produce the two grey
donkeys he had promised me, and which had cost me dear
enough already.

‘Sembodja declared that he could not send to Taveta for
the goods waiting there for me, so | had to spare Qualla to
fetch them in the evening. It appeared, moreover, that my
valuable stock of brandy and wine had been tampered with, so
that I did not feel disposed to have anything more to do with
the Sultan. Quite early the next morning, however, just as I
was getting up, Sembodja himself appeared in my camp, this
time with a turban on his head, a coloured cloth about his
loins, and wearing a jacket decked with different kinds o
buttons. About his neck hung the watch I had given him;
in the buttonhole of the jacket a soup-spoon was stuck, as a
flower might be; whilst from the pockets peeped the necks of
empty bottles. One of the men with him was also drageing
along a basket quite full of the latter.

‘After Sembodja had watched me performing my toilet with
apparently great interest for some time, he began to tell me
that he had been warned in a dream that we were all soon to
be attacked with small-pox, and he had turned out early in
the morning to tell us of a cure he knewof. “To begin with,”
he said, “* you must let three of your men eat a white hen; then
seven must eat a black one; then you must shoot a guinea-
fowl, and divide it amongst all your men.” This wonderful
recipe Sembodja offered me with the greatest solemnity, and
then he began to beg, chiefly for brandy and medicine ; so, to
get rid of him, I had all his bottles filled with water, sat down
to breakfast, and gave orders that the camp was to be broken
up at once.’

Wandering alone the swampy districts at the base of

T4 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

the Usambara range, Count Teleki came the same day, atter
passing Kumbaja and Kimuneu, to Kambula, the place of resi-
dence of Kimueri, a son of Sembodja. Kimueri himself and
numerous natives visited the camp, affording the leader an
opportunity of noting the differences in the complexions of
the inhabitants of Usambara, which varied from pale yellow to
the deepest brownish black. Amongst the visitors was a
Masai warrior, who amused himself, in a perfectly unabashed
manner, by brandishing his spear and showing us how he
killed the Wangwana. ‘This performance, accompanied by
wild gestures and horrible yells, was watched with anything
but pleasure by the men, so Count Teleki thought he would
take his pride down a bit by showing him the working of our
‘spears. He therefore had a few shots fired at a tree hard
by ; but this did not have the desired effect, for the self-satisfied
warrior was sure he could have protected himself quite well
with his shield. Then Count Teleki persuaded the Masai to
let his shield be placed against the tree, and ordered the Somal
to fire at it with their repeating-rifles till it was riddled with
shot. Silent and crestfallen, the Masai took back his now
useless shield, and slunk out of the camp.

At Kambula the base of the Usambara range was left be-
hind, the path leading across a burnt-up, arid steppe. On the
7th the Mkomasi river was reached, and the next day Miko-
cheni, our appointed rendezvous. Already, on the way there,
ostriches, giraffes, and zebras, with a few buffaloes, had been
seen, and Count Teleki did not find the time hang heavily at
all, in spite of the enforced inaction, for in the wild districts
round about the camp there was plenty of game, and he suc-
ceeded in bringing down no less than five rhinoceroses and a
leopard; but he only shot two Mpala antelopes, one water-
buck, one wild boar, and an antelope with a very small body
and big legs.

AT MIKOCHENI i

Mikocheni, where we were now camped, is on the shores of
the Pangani river, 1,800 feet above the sea-level, and is over-
shadowed by many trees, chiefly doum palms ; hence its name,
which signifies, near the doum palms.' Outside the thicket, on
the banks of the stream, the view extends on the north to the
precipitous Pare mountains, rising from 2,618 to 2,945 feet
above the plain, and on the east to the isolated Mount Lasa,
whilst beyond them both is the still visible Usambara range.

Mikocheni is often visited by caravans, and the ground is
strewn with the rubbish left behind by them, so that there is
of course plenty of vermin; scorpions abound, and there are
such countless fleas that the luckless traveller does not get a
moment's peace.

Here a plan was ripened which was the result of our
separation, ‘The tract of country on the Pangani, some forty-
three miles in extent, between Mikocheni and Upuni was still
quite unknown---that is to say, 1t had not yet been explored by
Europeans. Count Teleki was very much interested in this
district; but it would not do to attempt to traverse it with the
whole Expedition, so I was to be sent on by the ordinary
caravan route, skirting the Pare range to Same, where we
were to meet again. Count Teleki started on March 13, with
about eighty men, to follow the course of the river, and I re-
mained encamped another day, to give my people time to rest.

I turned this pause to account by chmbing one of the
lower heights of the Pare range, so as to look down upon the

1 This is how most of the caravan halting-places get their names. For instance,
Mikwajunt means near the tamarinds; Mibuyuni, near the baobabs ; Miwirimi,
near the medlars. Other names of frequent occurrence are Mtoni, or near the
stream; Massimani, near the water-hole. Other places are named after the wild
animals in their neighbourhood; for instance, Malago kanga means the home of
the guinea-fowl; Malago tembos, the elephant camp; and Malago faru, the
rhinoceros haunt; these names being retained long after all the animals are ex-
terminated. When the camp is by the path it is called Indyrani; if it is in a
wood it is nsttont, and if it is on a thorny steppe it is nyvkanz or porint; and so on.

76 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

basin of the Pangani, which resembled a wide-stretching ocean,
dotted here and there with isolated island-like blue mountains ;
whilst in the west rose the Lasiti mountains, the outlying
spurs of the Pare range, on which I stood, shutting out the
horizon.

After a short march along the bank of the Pangani, we
halted in a very picturesque bend of the river. To our sur-
prise, we saw clouds of smoke issuing from a thicket not far
off, which it turned out proceeded from Count Teleki’s camp.
He had hada good day’s start of us, but he had sent some men
to buy food in a village near, and they had not yet returned.
It was not until the afternoon that the dawdlers turned up
and he was able to resume his march.

The Count’s camping-place was called Mabirioni, a very
usual name, signifying boundary, and in this case appropriate, as
it is here that the caravan route branches off from the river for
the Pare range. The next day we started in the same direc-
tion, and reached Pare Maboga, also knownas Massangu. The
farther we got from the river the more sterile became the
country, till we reached the base of the mountains, when we
were again amongst green thickets and marshes. We camped
by a clear brook, which we reached at last. A troop of apes,
which fled terrified at our approach, enticed me into the thicket,
and I pressed on and on, in spite of being dreadfully scratched
and torn, till I could get no farther.!

+ East Africa abounds in a kind of Sanseviera, which grows at the edge of thorn
thickets, springing up between the bushes, and making it all but impossible to get
through them. The stems of these plants are about one and a half inch in
diameter, and grow to a height of from two feet to five feet. They are very
stiff and upright, cylindrical in form, of a greyish-green colour, and end in a sharp,
hard point, which inflicts a severe wound. We frequently met with two kinds of
Sanseviera in our travels, but seldom saw one bearing flowers or fruit. Both kinds
have very strong fibres, which, after being beaten and dried, are used by the people
of caravans for making fishing-lines, &e. If possible, the thin, almost thread-like

creepers are even greater impediments to progress. Belonging mostly to the
Smilacew, they too bear thorns, and though they look innocent enough, and you

TERRORS OF AN AFRICAN THICKET v7

The apes had long since been out of sight, and I had not
only given them up, but also all wish to pay a visit to the
natives living on the mountain; in fact, I did not see how
either to advance or retreat, but just stood still, wondering
how I was to get out of this horrible thicket of thorns. I
had certainly no fancy for returning by the way I had come.
Presently I heard the murmuring of a brook flowing towards the
plain on the left; at last I had found a way out! I was soon
wading through the cool water ; before long the thorn bushes
on the bank became thinner, and all of a sudden I stepped
out into the open country again, on to a path leading towards
the mountains. There was not a sign of a village, but some of
my people, who had fortunately joined me, thought it could not
be far off, and as a matter of fact we very soon reached it, and
were quickly surrounded by a crowd of natives of all ages.
Although it was beginning to rain we were soon trading briskly ;
but the only food to be had was maize, and with it I had to
allay the pangs of hunger. Not until I had devoured a couple
of green ears could I attend to anything else.

The natives, who were called Wapare, seemed poor half-
starved creatures. Their only garments were loin-cloths made
of goats’ skins, and round their necks they wore a few strings
of white or blue beads. They had also thick rings of brass
and iron wire. Bracelets, anklets, and earrings seemed the
fashion. Some of the women also had necklaces made of
twisted iron wire, such as those worn by the Masai; and all,
without exception, had their teeth filed to a point, looking like

fancy you can easily break through them, you soon find yourself, like a fly in a
spider’s web, unable to move backwards or forwards. Every effort to get through
only increases the danger, and a second person is needed to take the thorns out one
by one. In East Africa every plant seems to bear thorns, and even the bark of
large trees is provided with them. It does not do to travel in these parts in the
light clothes suitable for the tropics, as they are sure to be torn to pieces, whilst the
whole body becomes covered with wounds.

78 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

those of beasts of prey. Their only weapons were bows and
ALTOWS.

A little later I brought our marketing to an end, and re-
turned to camp in pouring rain. Arrived there, the first
thing I had to do was to send after a group of four of our
chained criminals, who had made off with their loads containing
our stock of rice; then the poscho had to be given out for four
days to each man, consisting of a so-called schuka or upande
of merikani. We now also discovered that a man who had
been taken ill with fever in the morning was missing. The
men I sent to seek him soon found him and his stick, but
no load, near a swamp not far off; he had evidently taken
a wrong turn in the delirium of fever, for the next morning he
was gone again, and this time he could not be found.

The country we passed through on the next stage was
called nyika by the natives—that is to say, it was an unin-
habited, barren, waterless, bushy steppe. The glare from the
red laterite soil was terrible, and the dust was fearfully deep.
The thorny acacias were almost bare of leaves, the patches of
coarse grass were few and far between; the euphorbia alone
seemed to flourish and to be in its element. There were many
pitfalls, from nine and a half to thirteen feet deep, often several
in succession, so carefully concealed that the greatest caution
was needed to avoid them. ‘These pitfalls and the footprints of
wild beasts proved that there was plenty of big game in the
neighbourhood, but we saw none. I noticed, however, several
gallinaceous birds, and I went after some of them into the bush
with my gun. An incident happened now which brought
forcibly before my mind the fact that I was in Africa, for just
as [ was going to pick up a guinea-fowl I had shot, and which
had fallen among some bushes, out came a fine leopard, striding
rapidly along. Unfortunately I was not quick enough in
pointing my weapon, and I missed the beast with both barrels.

THE MAKUYUNI STREAM 79

After a long, hot march we reached the Makuyuni stream
in the late afternoon, and decided to camp for the night in a

OUT CAME A FINE LEOPARD.

shady thicket on its farther bank. Although but a narrow
thread-like rivulet, it flowed through a cleft some thirty to
forty-three feet deep, with crumbling, precipitous sides, which

80 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

made crossing it a matter of considerable difficulty. Once
over, we followed its course a little farther, and halted at the
entrance to the valley through which it flows from the Pare
mountains to the plain.

Although there was no village in sight, natives soon ap-
peared with maize and potatoes for sale, followed by Mpesa,
the chief of the valley, dragging along two refractory goats.

Some of the pack animals arrived that evening, but others
not till the next morning, so that I was obliged to remain here
for aday. I employed the time in climbing a steep mountain
called Bibirri, near my camp. The ascent could only be made
from the farther side, and the denseness of the vegetation ren-
dered it in some parts extremely arduous. Thorny creepers
and thickets of prickly euphorbia compelled us again and again
to cut our way with axe and knife; but at last we reached the
comparatively unencumbered summit, and were rewarded by a
splendid and widespread view. At our feet lay the wood of
Makuyuni, the rising smoke and loud cries from which betrayed
the presence of our camp. Near to it rose the Kwa Nduyu
mountains, a chain of heights on the west of the Pare range ;
whilst beyond, divided from them by a stretch of nyika, or
barren steppe, we could see the Lasiti and Sambo mountains,
with an apparently interminable, shehtly undulating, bush-
clad plain as a background.

The graceful-looking masses of dracena which surrounded
us were just then in flower, and the air was laden with their
scent. In a word, the summit of the mountain would have
been a perfect spot but for the number of bee-like stinging
flies. which attacked us in such a manner that I should have
had to beat a retreat at once if I had not been able to protect
my head and neck with a silk veil I had fortunately brought
with me.

In the afternoon the rain poured down; but this did not

a

NATIVE MODE OF GETTING FIRE Sl

prevent the natives from overwhelming us with their visits,
and the chief, Mpesa, who was, however, quite a young man,
sat in my tent nearly the whole time. Amongst other things,
he begged for poison, to aid him in dealing with the Masai,
who often came to him as uninvited and unwelcome guests.
I got him off this topic pretty soon, however, by asking him to
show me how to get fire by rubbing two sticks together. It
was really wonderful, considering the moisture-laden atmo-
sphere, with what rapidity he did as I requested. The materials
employed were such as we saw wherever we went: two simple
bits of wood, one flat, about six inches long and not quite one
inch wide, with a row of grooves in one side; the other was
about twelve inches long, and of the thickness and shape of a
lead-pencil. The latter was fixed in one of the grooves of the
former, held tightly between the palms of the hands, and whirled
rapidly round and round. In a very few seconds the wood-
dust produced by the friction, and which fell through the
erooves, began to smoke; this dust was carefully nursed into a
blaze, and then fed with fine grass and bits of cotton stuff.
The whole thing is done so rapidly that our men, even the lazy
Wasungu, always employ this method, on quite short halts, for
lighting their pipes; and the caravans trading in this district
never carry matches, but get fire with the help of a blank
cartridge.

On March 19 we were off again, no longer skirting the
mountain-base, but going through the wide valley between
the Pare and Kwa Nduyu ranges. In an hour’s time we
passed Mpesa’s dirty little village, then crossed a number of
deep brooks, and at eleven o’clock in the morning stopped at
a wayside pool to cook our food. These marches, broken by
a mid-day halt for food, are known as telekesa marches, and
are made when there is a long stretch of waterless district to

be traversed. After a good rest, the caravan moves on late in
VOL. T. | G

82 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

the afternoon, to camp again for the night without water,
which is not found until the next day. On this occasion we
pushed on until near sunset across a steppe with scarcely any
trees, and there being nothing to cook, and no water to cook
with, there was soon perfect silence round the fire. |

On this march we met with specimens of the same peculiar
and huge growth we had already noticed at Mafi, a kind ot
Aristolochia. ‘From a rough, knotty stem, from 20 inches to
5 feet in diameter and from 12 to 20 inches high, spring a
number of long, thin, almost leafless branches, which mostly
attach themselves to some bush
or tree hard by. The quaintly-
formed root is almost entirely
exposed to view above the
soil, and is not unlike a carrot
in consistency. It has a thin,

ereenish-brown epidermis, with

Ay & é S -
TF I

SY 0,

MYT UNS 5,
vam se 2

a sort of silvery sheen about
it. We did not find this
strange plant farther inland

ARISTOLOCHIA SP.

than Kilimanjaro.

The weather looked very dull and threatening the next
morning, and the rugged mountains near by were shrouded in
thick mist. Our march led us across flat plains, and then
beside the all but dried-up bed of a stream, till we came to the
village of Muanamata, also called Mwemba. Very few natives
came to our camp, and the chief did not appear till early the
next morning. When he approached, with some ceremony,
bringing with him two oxen and a goat as his present, we
were already on the eve of departure, and the camp presented
a very lively appearance. I was only able to give him a bale
of goods in return. Muanamata, after whom. the village ‘is
named, was a shrivelled old man, and even with Jumbe

WANT OF WATER 83

Kimemeta’s help I could not get much out of him, though I
tried to ascertain whether the Wapare practised any religious
ceremonies. The inquiry was quite incomprehensible to him,
and as he seemed altogether indifferent to everything [ said, I
very soon broke up the shauri.

A tramp of five miles across a bush-clad steppe brought
us to the swampy mouth of a brook flowing from a valley
dividing the Pare Same, or north end of the Pare range, from
the Pare Kisingo mountains. This was where we were to
join forces again, but Count Teleki had not yet arrived. We
pitched our tent close to the edge of a small reed-grown
swamp, beneath the cool and pleasant shade of a mighty tree,
but the noise of the concert the frogs gave us at night was
positively deafening. The ground about our camp was riddled
with countless holes, the footprints of elephants; and a little
farther off were the traces of many burnt-out fires, scorched
bushes, and so on. Here.and there grass was sprouting up
again, but the general appearance of the district was melan-
choly in the extreme.

Our days were fully occupied with making topographical
observations and in unfruitful shooting expeditions until the
late afternoon. of March 23, when, to my delight, Count Teleki
arrived. His men had not had a drop of water since the early
morning, and many had dropped down exhausted by the way.
Water was at once sent to them, and their loads were carried
for them, a service of love which the Wangwana were eager
to render.

As will be remembered, Count Teleki had been unable to
leave Mabirioni before noon, so he only made a short march
on the day we parted. The next morning his course was
north-westerly, and he for the first time met some of the Masai,
the dreaded inhabitants of these districts—four warriors, who
hastened forward, eager to show the leader of the caravan a

Gr

S84 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

good camping-place on the Ruvu near their own kraal. There
was, for once, no talk of presents from the white man; on the
contrary, Alkomai, the chief man of the place, brought two
fine oxen as a gift from himself. Count Teleki, who did not
happen to have with him any of the iron wire the Masai set so
much store by, declined to accept the oxen, but in spite of all he
could urge he was compelled to receive two goats. The next
day the journey was resumed under the guidance of two Masai
warriors. For two days the course was in a northerly direc-
tion from two and a half to three and three-quarter miles from
the banks of the Pangani, which were here very swampy,
across flat plains with a few isolated acacias, past the Lasiti
range to Mount Sambo. On the second day the monotony was.
broken by herds of oxen and goats, whilst Masai men and women
hastened to join the caravan, behaving in a most peaceable
and friendly manner, and pointing out a good camping-place
near a water-hole. Then a further march northwards, across
districts encumbered with reeds, making walking very difficult
till the swampy region was passed, when a detour westwards
was made back to the river, on the banks of which the camp
was pitched. On this march the caravan passed very near
the Sambo mountain, which presented a very rugged, barren
appearance, and, according to the natives, was only visited by
the herds of cattle, &c., in the rainy season. The district in
which the Count now found himself was called Angata
Lesulenge, the first word meaning, in Masai, pasture or
meadow lands. The river was here from 43 to 55 yards
wide, and flowed at about the rate of two miles an hour.
Countless crocodiles haunted the stream, and in a few minutes
after his arrival at the campine-place Count Teleki had shot
three, as well as a python some 33 yards long. The Count
decided to rest here a day, and from far and near the
people flocked in in such numbers that the caravan almost

COUNT TELEK1 AS A DOCTOR 85

disappeared amongst them, and the leader was not only
stared at and touched by everyone—the girls especially being
immensely struck with his shoes, which they took for hoofs
—but he was expected to work miracles as a doctor by
healing all the natives sick with fever, and hundreds of
oxen smitten with anthrax. He found alum, of which he
had a large quantity with him, very useful; he also recom-
mended better grass for the cattle, and discovered that strips
of paper and old discharged and discoloured rockets made
first-rate charms.

The next march, which only took two hours, brought the
party to Upuni, a well-known halting-place for trading cara-
vans, already visited in 1883 by Dr. G. Fischer; but beyond
this point the course of the Pangani was quite unexplored.
There were plenty of big game in the neighbourhood, and
Count Teleki shot one zebra, one water-buck, and three
Mpala antelopes.

Accompanied by many Masai warriors, Count Teleki now
made a forced march to Same, our appointed rendezvous,
across dreary sandstone districts with here and there some
fairly luxuriant vegetation, but entirely without water—a
terribly severe strain upon the as yet untrained men, who
vainly sought for the precious fluid in the dried-up holes,
many of them, as we have seen, succumbing altogether.

The mountains near Same were uninhabited, so that the men
had to get their food from Muanamata, which delayed us two
days more. We employed the time in shooting expeditions,
with very small results, for I only brought down an eland
or two; but our hunting led to a very unexpected result.
Thad killed one old male and sorely wounded another, which,
however, went off with the rest of the herd. I followed
the animal a long way, but at last had to give him up, as he
was taking me too far from the camp. On my way back I

86 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

e

was slinking over a sterile sun-baked bit of ground, bordered
by a low thicket, into which I peered as I went, thinking that
perchance I might find my wounded game, when I suddenly
heard a horrible snort close to me on the left, whilst at the
same moment past rushed a huge brownish black rhinoceros,
nearly frightening me out of my wits. This apparition so
startled me that I did not at first remember the gun in my
hand; but I soon sent two shots after the fugitive, apparently
without result. The spell was broken now, however, and I[
quickly followed the animal, which I could easily trace by the
deep footprints he had left. But these prints led into just
such a thicket as the one from which I had roused my game,
and I had not forgotten certain previous episodes of a similar
kind. Remembering also that I had so far had no experi-
ence in dealing with rhinoceroses, I decided that it would be
best after all to make for the camp, which I accordingly did.
On March 26 we were at last able to be off again, our
route being first eastwards, crossing a low saddle connecting
the main Pare chain with the Pare Kisingo mountains, then
northwards along the base of the latter. We camped for the
night in one of the eastern valleys of the Kisingo heights, the
last stage of the march having been made through a down-
pour of rain which soaked us to the skin, and converted the
plain we were crossing into a lake with water an inch deep.
The next morning we did not start till half-past nine, as we
were obliged to let the people cook their food first. We
should reach no water till the day after, the nearest being
Lake Jipe, too far away for one march. We started in high
spirits, as we expected to have our first view on this march of
the snow-clad peaks of Kilimanjaro, the view of which was
at first shut out by the heights filling in the valley between
the Kisingo and Kwa Mdimu mountains. When these were
left behind there was nothing to impede our vision. The

“
Il
tn

CARAVAN,

THE

REARGUARD OF

THE

ADVENTURE WITH A LEOPARD 89

whole extent of the valley was now spread out before us; on
the west rose rugged mountains, gradually increasing in height,
for the Kisingo range is succeeded by that of Ugweno. And
near the base of the latter, in the wide plain stretching away
to the east, we could see Lake Jipe, which looked like a
narrow gleaming streak of light, far above which lowered a
dark unchanging shadow, encircled by greyish-white clouds.
This was Kimawenzi, with its rugged buttresses and pinnacles,
the lower of the two peaks of Kilimanjaro; but unfortunately
the ice-crowned peak of Kibo, which rises considerably higher
than Kimawenzi, was hidden now.

We started along the valley at the base of the Kwa Mdimu
mountains, camping at about four o’clock in the afternoon near
a dried-up rainwater pool.

On this day’s march Count Teleki had started earlier than
the caravan, so as to do some hunting. Besides a successful
double shot at two Mpala antelopes, he had an interesting
adventure with a leopard. He had seen one in the high
erass, but it disappeared too quickly for him to fire at it.
At the same moment he heard a growling near by, and saw
some animal. approaching him through the long grass.
Thinking it was a wild boar, or something of that kind, he
changed his rifle for a gun and fired, little dreaming of
what he had done. There was a rolling over and over in the
grass, and then he saw the paws of a great leopard. Quickly
the rifle was seized again ; but the danger was past, the animal
was quite dead.

Late in the afternoon Kibo also became visible, and the
beautifully serrated line of the saddle connecting the two
peaks of Kilimanjaro was also fully revealed. The setting
sun touched them for a time with glory; then a thick mantle
of white cloud shrouded the rugged form of Kimawenzi,
leaving only the snow-clad dome of Kibo rising up in solitary

90 FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

nught, like some incorporeal vision, far above all things earthy
and material.

As we approached Lake Jipe it disappeared from view, and.
even when we were marching along its eastern banks the
next day, and could feel its presence, we were unable to see it,
on account of the dense and high growth of reeds between it
and us. ‘The oppressive heat in which we had marched across
the sterile steppes made us look with longing eyes at a wood
of fresh green acacias near the lake, and in another hour we
were camped in their shade, able to feast our eyes on Lake
Jipe; but, alas! its water turned out to be turbid, tasting of
mud, and what we got from the middle of the lake, where
there were no rushes, with the aid of our boat, was not fit to
make tea, even when filtered and boiled. A march of three
hours next day alone the banks of the lake brought us to the
northern end. We had not been able to see the water, for the
same reason as on the previous day, so that we were the more
surprised at the lovely view from a little hill near by, over-
looking the whole extent of the quiet lake, with the dense,
impenetrable-looking forests on the north, from which, how-
ever, the risme smoke here and there bore witness to the
presence of inhabitants.

Charming indeed was the appearance of the lake, with the
acacia-woods lining its shores and the rugged heights of the
Ugweno mountains forming a background; but very dreary
was the view on the east of the monotonous bush-clad steppes
stretching away to the coast, a waterless, and therefore unin-
habited, wilderness. The immediate neighbourhood of Lake
Jipe is, however, haunted by lions and leopards, giraffes, hyenas,
ostriches, and other wild creatures, who come down to the
water to drink, so that it is a very paradise for the hunter.
The lake itself abounds in crocodiles and hippopotami, as well
as in catfish and perch.

EXCITEMENT AMONGST THE MEN 91

But a few hours’ march now separated us from the first
goal of our journey, the forest-girt Taveta. Often the very
sound of the name had acted lke a magic spell upon our men,
filling them, weary and worn as they were, with fresh hope,
fresh energy. What wonder, then, that now we were so near
it we were all, Count Teleki and I included, intoxicated with
delightful anticipation! How much we might hope for in the
beautiful quiet forest, into the depths of which we tried in vain

ELANDS.

to peer from the hill near the lake! What peace, what rest in
the cool shade of this African paradise, beside murmuring
streams, after our long tramp across the arid steppes! Tull
quite late at night the men were carousing in honour of our
near approach to the much-longed-for goal, and when the
morning dawned there was a joyful stir in the camp such as
we had never seen before. Many had put on their best clothes
in honour of the occasion, others had washed their shirts the
day before. The guns were loaded to bursting with powder,

OZ FROM THE COAST TO KILIMANJARO

ready for firmg in an imposing manner the customary salute
on entering Taveta. Everyone worked hard and eagerly in
the preparations for the start, and the caravan got under way
amidst loud shouts of rejoicing. As we neared the town the
vegetation became greener and more luxuriant, the trees grew
higher and closer together, the undergrowth denser, the para-
sites more numerous, until at last we were altogether immersed
in the dark, humid shades of the forest. The trees rose many
feet above our heads, casting their lone dark shadows across
the path. Rank undergrowth, thorny bushes, and creepers
filled up the spaces between their trunks. Many a stem lay
right across the track, which wound in and out and backwards
and forwards. We had to stoop and twist, to creep and crawl
in single file, to avoid the many impediments in the way.
There were long and continual delays, our men were getting
exhausted and out of heart, when suddenly there was a shout
of joy at the sound of distant firmg—the signal that the head
of the caravan had reached the actual entrance to Taveta, a
wooden door made of tree-trunks closing the pathway to the
settlement. And now, like rolling thunder, the sound of the
firmg of guns echoed on every side, whilst the smoke rose up
in clouds from the woods, starthng hundreds of birds and
terrifying the apes, which had been peering at us at close
quarters as we made our painful way along, but now scuttled
off to the topmost branches of the trees as fast as they could.
The people of another caravan camped in the wood were
roused from their happy dolce far niente by the noise, and they
too wasted a vast amount of powder in giving us a return
salute. So there was cracking to the right, cracking to the
left, cracking above us, the really peaceful greetings sounding
like the roar of a battle. When we had made our way on all-
fours through the narrow entrance, we found ourselves in
somewhat freer quarters: we could see better, and the path

APRIVAL AT TAVETA 95

led between hedges of banana-palms and across numerous
little rivulets. Idle natives stood about here and there, and
gazed at us in friendly fashion, whilst the women at work in the
little wood-encircled fields paused, as the Wangwana hurried
on, their smoking weapons in their hands, to shout a greeting
to us as if we were old friends, crying: ‘ Yambo, Yambo, sana !
Sabalcher! Uhah ghan? Habari ghani?’ and so on, which
meant, ‘Good day! God bless you! How are you? What's the
news?’ On we pressed, however, till we came to a good-sized
clearing, overgrown with weeds, and found ourselves in the
very heart of the paradise called Taveta.

J4

CHAPTER III

STAY IN TAVETA AND TRIPS TO MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU
April 80 to July 15, 1887

Taveta an El Dorado—Meeting with the English hunting party—Hut-building
and life in camp-—Our ape Hamis—The Wataveta—Qualla Idris—The wild
animals of the forest—Two caravans return to the coast—We start for Mount
Meru—Rhinoceros hunt—Three days on Kilimanjaro—-Along the base of Kil-
manjaro to Mount Meru—Further hunting adventures— Meeting with Masai—
By the Engilata— Weather conditions and state of the road in the rainy season
—Buffalo hunt—First acquaintance with the Wameru— We make peace—Life
among the Wameru—Lake Balbal—Sultan Matunda—On the Dariama—
Across the Ronga to Little Arusha—Kahe—Back again at Taveta—Overhaul-
ing of our stores—A hunting expedition—Start for the ascent of Kilimanjaro—
A night with the thermometer at —11° Centigrade—Attempt to ascend Kibo—
Return to Taveta—The start for Masailand.

Iv is but a short time since the grandparents of the present
inhabitants of Taveta, driven from their previous homes by
their powerful neighbours, took refuge in the shady woods by
the Lumi. The absolute quiet reigning in the depths of the
forest, the clear waters of the stream, the fruitful soil, which
repaid a hundredfold the tillage bestowed on it—in a word,
everything combined to tempt them to found a new settlement
here, and so with eager haste they quickly made a clearing
with axe and fire, sowed their crops, and settled down.

Here, cut off from all the world, the woodlanders led their
simple, peaceful life till they were one day discovered by some
traders from the coast. Henceforth they were constantly
visited by caravans, and Taveta, with its shady banana-hedges,

DESCRIPTION OF TAVETA 95

became a favourite halting-place. The natives welcomed the
traders, as they felt safer whilst they were with them; and
they gladly exchanged for stuffs, beads, weapons, and ammu-
nition the superfluous produce of their fields, and the new
settlement rapidly increased in prosperity, till it became what it
now is—a beautiful, thriving, Arcadian colony, eagerly looked
forward to alike by outgoing and home-returning caravans, for
it is the last link with civilisation to the former and the first
halting-place in the final stage of the wanderings of the latter.
The forest, which is in case of need so great a protection
to the people of Taveta, is carefully preserved by them. They
have plenty of weapons, and they are really pretty safe from
attack, as it is well known that there are generally people from
the coast with them. ‘The clearings are picturesquely situated
in the depths of the wood, so that they are surrounded on every
side by impenetrable vegetation. Only three narrow, tortuously-
winding paths lead through the forest, and even these are care-
fully patrolled by wood-beaters and closed to passengers at
night. ‘The huts of the natives are hidden amongst the shady
trees like the nests of birds; one has to hunt for them, as well
as for the equally well-concealed plantations of maize, yams,
and sugar-cane. The banana-palms, however, the fruit of
which is the staple food at Taveta, cover vast tracts of ground,
forming thick, shady groves, the protection afforded by the
background of trees preserving the huge leaves intact ; whilst
a. perfect network of rivulets intersect the whole settlement
in picturesque fashion.
ilitte clearing on which we were to camp, and to whichwe were
cuided by natives, was less than a hundred paces from the left
bank of the Lumi. It was bounded on three sides by the forest,
and on the fourth side by a banana-hedge. A few monarchs
of the wood, with their mighty crowns of leaves, had been left
standing; beneath the grateful shade of one of them our daily

96 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

market was generally held, and it became to us what the
spreading chestnut-tree was to the Village Blacksmith.

Our men, who were almost out of their minds with delight,
now became nearly unmanageable, as they rushed about sur-
rounded by countless natives. The firing and shouting never
ceased, and it was no easy matter to keep order, so we handed
the control of the caravan over to Qualla for the day, and went
ourselves to visit Messrs. Harvey, Willoughby and Hunter, the
English hunters already mentioned in our first chapter, who
were camped but a few minutes’ walk from us by the side
of the Lumi. We were most heartily welcomed by these
gentlemen, whose acquaintance we had already made in
Zanzibar, and soon after we had exchanged the latest news
with them we sat down to a sumptuous repast, including fish
from the Lumi, buffaloes’ tongues, antelope steaks, and a
euinea-fowl ragotit, actually succeeded by a regular English
plum-pudding. The best part of the meal, however, was,
without doubt, the lively talk we all kept up, our hosts enter-
taining us with anecdotes of their hunting adventures with the
terrible big game of Africa, which seemed the more thrilling
when listened to with an accompaniment of the clinking of
champagne-glasses. We did not retire to our own camp to
rest till long past midnight. 7

As we intended to stop for a long time in Taveta, our first
care was to get our camp into order, and the next day our
clearing was as busy as any Huropean building-yard. Some
of the men were cutting away the weeds overgrowing the
eround, others were dragging along the tree-trunks and palm-
leaf ribs with which the huts were to be built; whilst our
architects, Manwa Sera and Maktubu, with an air of great
importance, marked out the sites of the huts. The work went
on, with a short break at mid-day, from early morning to
sunset, and with but little effort on our part we were in a very

ARRANGEMENTS IN CAMP 97

few days the owners of a complete village. Near our own
tent, which was pitched beneath a shady tree, as far as possible
from the thatched huts of the men, was Qualla’s residence,
containing our stores of ammunition; and near to it again, but
standing alone, was a big wooden hut, thatched with reeds,
containing the greater portion of our other goods. This was
protected by an encircling hedge, as in case of fire in the camp

ONE OF THE ENTRANCES TO TAVETA.

there would be a danger of our losing everything, or at least
of having everything damaged. Opposite to this hut were the
stables for the donkeys and goats, a big workshop, and the
kitchen ; whilst the tents of the men were arranged in circles
round this central nucleus, the paths between our quarters
and theirs being usually pretty full of natives. The first of
them generally appeared quite early in the morning, bringing
fish for sale—plump fellows caught in baskets in the Lumi,
NOT: Db. H

98 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

during the nght. As the sun rose higher the number of our
visitors increased, till every shady corner was crowded with a
chattering mob. The open space between our tent and the
warehouse was particularly popular, and was always full of
women and children offering their wares for sale, who were
none of them in any hurry to go, the pretty ones especially not
dreaming of returning home till sunset. And another eager
group was generally gathered beneath the spreading shade of
our village-tree. Livery day great bunches of bananas of dif-
ferent kinds were brought to us, some ripe and golden, others
still green. The latter were skinned, cut in slices, and fried.
There was plenty of pombe, or banana wine, too, in anything
but appetising-looking earthenware vessels. Our Zanzibaris,
however, tossed off the contents, taking a pull, first from one
and then from another jar, with the air of experienced con-
noisseurs, till the women selling the wine became impatient
and gave vent to shrill cries of protest. Amongst other things
offered for sale were flat straw spoons filled with a finely
ground white flour made of maize, or a kind of red-coloured
meal of bananas and dhurra mixed together ; skinned and dried
manioc, yams, potatoes, tomatoes, colocosia, tobacco, dhurra,
maize; a kind of eleusine still in the husk, packed in
cylindrical-shaped wooden vessels with leather covers; and
quantities of long stems of sugar-cane, which were set up
against the trunks of the trees until they found a purchaser.
Honey, too, was brought into camp almost every day, and now
and then a little fellow would appear with a hen tucked under
his arm.

Our men received every six days about 14 yard of stuff or
thirty strings of beads, and were very happy and contented in
being able to pick and choose for themselves amongst all these
wares. The market was open all day long, and everything
went on fairly quietly until the afternoon, when the arrival of

‘OUR PET APE 99

a few aboriginal Wakwafi women and children with fish, &c.,
from Lake Jipe would cause considerable excitement ; everyone

rushed to secure his own kitoweo.!

When the day was nearing its close our men would invite
their young lady visitors to have a dance, a proposal they
readily agreed to, and the couples would form in two long rows,
the gentlemen opposite the ladies, and foot it nimbly to the
measure of some Masai song without words.

A few days after our arrival the Enghsh huntsmen started
in different directions to continue their sport. As they meant
to be absent a short time only, and we expected to see them
back soon, we bade them a very light-hearted farewell; but,
alas ! we never came across each other again. The chief result
of their departure was that the curiosity of the people of
Taveta was now concentrated on our camp alone. This was by
no means an unmixed advantage, as our tent was the chief
object of attraction, and we were literally besieged all day
long. The good fellows did not lke our wanting to get rid of
them at all.

It will be remembered that Count Teleki had already several
times played the part of a medicine-man or conjurer, and at
Taveta he gladly exercised his craft, for the natives were very
attentive to his instructions and erateful for his help. When we
really were too tired to answer any more questions our visitors
would turn to our pet ape, Hamis, whom I quite forgot to men-
tion before, but who had now become very dear to us, and was
generally disporting himself outside our tent. Hamis, as we
had dubbed him, shared all our wanderings, and even went
home with usto Vienna. He was terribly impudent, and made
no secret of his contempt for all black people. He recognised
so well the distinctions of rank that he owned no one as his
master but Count Teleki, and if no other victim was handy, he

* *Kitoweo’ means a tit-bit of anything, such as meal, fish, rice, panada, «ce.
Ho

100 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

would grin, show his teeth, and scowl at me. If I made him
understand that I would not put up with this, he would revenge
himself by flying at the first coloured man who passed, pinching
him and pulling his hair. Hamis often made us angry ; but he
was so very amusing that, whatever his misdeeds, we always
ended by forgiving him.

Never did our little pet have a jollier time than in Taveta.
The women and children, whom he never bit, plied him perpetu-
ally with bananas and sugar-cane, whilst the boys gave him
locusts and beetles; and withit all Hamis maintained an air of
condescending grandeur which was irresistibly comic?

We got to know the people of Taveta very well in our long,
almost uninterrupted intercourse with them. The first 1mpres-
sion they always make is, that they are extremely primitive in
their ideas and ways, which seems the more surprising consider-
ing how many visitors they have from the coast; but nearer
acquaintance proves that, like all the other tribes living near
the Masai, they really, in many respects, more or less closely
resemble that well-known type.

This is the less surprising as some fifty years ago the
Tavetaners were joined by a considerable number of Wakwafi,
originally a branch of the great Masai family, who, after being
decimated by a long and bloody civil war, had dispersed in
every direction. Deprived of nearly all their cattle, they had
been obliged to give up their pastoral life, and were now
scattered about all round Masailand as tillers of the soil, many
of them having settled down in the woods between Taveta
and Lake Jipe.

The Masai style of costume is, however, servilely copied
only by young people of both sexes. The young men, as a
rule, wear one garment only, a short mantle made of hairy
goatskin or of some brownish red cotton stuff, which covers
the left side of the body, and is fastened on the right shoulder.

a? a

COSTUMES OF THE WATAVETA 101

Now and then, however, a kind of leather apron to sit upon is
also worn hanging down the back. The hair is generally
twisted into a number of thin spiral locks, which fall low on
the forehead, sometimes down to the eyes. At the back the
hair is lengthened with plaited bast, which hangs down like a
short pigtail. The lobes of the ears are artificially widened,
and decked with heavy ornaments of different forms, made of

———— SS = a

re a ee

WATAVETA.

iron or brass wire, beads, or iron chains. A few ornaments
round the wrist, bracelets and anklets, mostly made of twisted
wire, or strips of leather sewn with beads, complete the costume.
On the right side they wear the s7mé, a short straight sword
with a broad, gradually-widening blade, and on the other a finely
decorated wooden club. If we compare this with the descrip-
tion of the costume of a Masai warrior given farther on, we
shall see that a young spark of Taveta is as like to him as

102 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

two peas, especially when, prepared for the dance, he is smeared
with red grease, and carries his shield and spear instead of his
oun.

The girls wear a petticoat of tanned and dressed goatskin,
which sometimes hanes down below the thighs. The upper
portion is often quite prettily trimmed with beads. These
Taveta maidens are particularly fond of neck ornaments, and
sometimes wear necklaces made of more than a hundred strings
of beads twisted together. In the widened lobes of the ears
they insert a piece of fresh banana-leaf rolled up lke a quill,
ora round bit of wood; and, of course, the usual bracelets and
anklets of brass and iron wire are not wanting. Like the men,
the young women smear the nude portions of their bodies
with a preparation of red earth and fat, presenting in our
eyes a most terrible appearance; but in that of their fellow
Wataveta a thick layer of grease gives a delicate finish to the
Set-Up.

The clder women wear, in addition to the petticoat, a
second garment, partly covering the upper portion of the
body; and some few ancient dames have lately adopted the
cotton drapery, wrapped tightly about the bust in the style
of the bibis of Zanzibar. One much-admired ear ornament
worn by married people of both sexes consists of thick
brass wire wound round in spiral fashion till it forms a circle
about four inches in diameter. These coils being too heavy

for the lobe of the ear, from which they hang, are connected

5).
by a band, which rests upon the neck and keeps them in
position.

It is difficult to estimate the number of the inhabitants of
Taveta, for they are very much scattered in the forest; but
they must exceed 1,500. As we noted when the compulsory
hongos, or presents, were given at the beginning of our stay
amongst them, the Wataveta are a patriarchal community, in

ON Pe re yee

LANGUAGE OF THE WATAVETA 1038

which the eldest and most respected men are consulted and
deferred to on every occasion.

Our by no means insignificant hongo, which consisted of
two loads of cotton goods and beads, was divided amongst these
elders, but about a hundred of the younger men, who were
present at the distribution, also received their share.

The language of the Wataveta scarcely differs from that of
the Wapare and Waeweno, and proves them to belong to the
Bantu stock. In spite of constant intercourse with the Wakwafi,
who use the Masai idiom, the people of Taveta rarely under-
stand their language, though many are acquainted with the
Kiswahili, or Zanzibar dialect.

Circumcision is universally practised amongst the Wataveta,
in the same manner and with the same attendant ceremonies
as amongst the Masai. Boys generally retire after undergoing
it to the forest for a time, whilst girls, on whom a somewhat
similar operation is inflicted, remain secluded for a month in
their huts. Ifa stranger approaches, they are expected to hide
their faces. The mothers of the girls meanwhile can easily
be identified, as they go about with their faces smeared with
alternate streaks of red and white colour.

With regard to the morality of the fair sex in Taveta, I am
scarcely in a position to pronounce an opinion one way or the
other, but in the interests of the truth I must relate an incident
which occurred during the first week of our stay.

One day we were surprised to find that all the natives kept
away from us; not a man, not a woman, not even a child, was
to be seen in our quarters, but each entrance to the camp was
guarded by several youths, who would allow no one to pass
in, and were specially eager in turning back those bringing
food for sale. What had happened? Just this. The young
married men of Taveta were enraged against our followers
because of certain liberties taken with their women. We

104 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

were, In consequence, to be boycotted, starved out, which
is the usual revenge taken amongst all negroes when they are
annoyed. We rejoiced in the one day’s quiet, and were not
sorry that our men, who were getting spoiled with good living
again, should have short commons for a bit ; but for all that
we set to work the same evening to try and set matters right
again. The ten elders of Tiaveta were invited to our camp,
and after making them a little present, we assured them that if
they on their part would look better after their wives and
daughters, we on ours would take care they had no further
cause for complaint. Peace was restored, and the next morning
we had more visitors than ever.

Soon after our arrival at Taveta we had taken the guns and
ammunition away from the men. We were no longer in such
dread of desertion, so one fine day we decided to relieve our
captives of their chains. When the time for taking their fetters
off arrived, all the gangs of four were assembled in front of Count
Teleki’s tent. Chisels, files, hammers, and pincers were brought;
but before they could be used one Jibu wadi Kombo, who was
much beloved in camp for his oratorical powers, suddenly
cried, ‘ But why all this fuss, Bwana? The chains would not
have kept me from running away from you again if I had
wanted to. With that he bit through a scrap of thin thread,
and sprang up, full of joy at being completely free once more:
His fetters had long since been broken!

We were now fairly settled in camp, and there was not so.
much for the men to do in one way; but we had now to see to
all the equipments of the caravan for the further journey, and
everything had to be overhauled and repacked. ‘The beads,
for instance, which so far had been carried loosely in sacks,
and were most of them very badly strung on rotten thread, had
to be re-threaded in lengths of some twenty-one or twenty-two
inches, and with the quantities we had with us this would take

MAKING NAIBERES AND SCHUKAS 105

weeks, even when hundreds of hands were busy with them.
Moreover, we had to stitch away at nazberes and schukas—that
is to say, at mantles for the Masai, traders from the coast having
accustomed them to receive stuffs, especially white cotton stuffs,
in one form only; so we had to meet the necessities of the case
by transforming some of our wares into the required shape.
Naiberes, or war mantles, consist of about two yards of ulayte
mfupi, which is a common and narrow sort of merikani
brightened up with a strip of calico, generally red, some six or
eight inches wide, sewn down the middle, whilst the edges are
frayed out for some four or four and a half inches, the fringe
thus formed being headed with a very narrow strip of some
reddish-purple stuff. For old married Masai about two yards |
and an eighth of somewhat wider ulayti were also cut off and
treated in the same way, but without the broad stripe in the
middle, and thus prepared they became schukas. Jumbe Kime-
meta advised us to make 1,200 such naiberes and schukas,
and for the work we set up a big shelter, in which some eighty
to a hundred of our men were always busy. ‘To check thefts
the beads were weighed before and after stringing, showing the
very first day a slight deficiency. The culprits were tor the
first offence only debited with the amount stolen against next
pay-day, but they were told that another time the stick would
be brought to bear upon them, and there was no repetition of
the offence. It was such an expensive business to do all this
work on the route that we felt it would have been much
better to have had it done at Zanzibar before starting.

Qualla Idris, the invaluable chief of our Somal guard, con-
sidered himself responsible for the conduct of the whole caravan,
so we did not trouble ourselves very much about details.
Every day we learnt to value Qualla more; he was such a
sympathetic fellow, so thoroughly to be relied upon, and
although he did not look particularly strong, he had wonderful

106 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

pluck and powers of endurance. He had a clear dark skin,
almost black in parts; his eyes were jet black, and though
their usual expression was earnest and penetrating, they often
sparkled with merriment. He had finely cut nostrils, and from
between his lips, which were generally apart, gleamed two rows
of regular ivory-hke teeth.

Qualla was exceptionally intelligent, and very quick to
learn. He could soon distinguish all the different bottles in
our well-stocked medicine-chest, and had the contents of the
various bales at his fingers’ ends. And as he had a good deal
of vanity, he was generally very well dressed. He was the
most zealous Mahomedan in the caravan, and never once
neglected the prescribed purifications and prayers. His
influence over the natives and our men, not excluding Jumbe
Kimemeta himself, was great and salutary, indeed almost
magical, and we never once had cause to regret the con-
fidence we reposed in him.

Only one or two of the other Somal shared any of Qualla’s
eood qualities, but they were all younger, and had not, of
course, had his experience. They were, however, all alike
remarkable for unusual decision of character, for their
esprit de corps, and their proud, reserved bearing towards the
rest of the caravan; on this account, and also because to them
was entrusted the infliction of the flogging which was often
absolutely necessary, they were almost as much feared and
loved—which amongst negroes is the same thing—as our-
selves.

But although Qualla relieved us of a great deal of work
and responsibility, there remained plenty for us to do. To
begin with, the condition and rate of the chronometer had to be
determined afresh, as the original data had been lost. It then
became apparent that the soil of Taveta was remarkably easily
thrown into a state of oscillation, so that even at a distance of

NATIVE TERROR OF OUR CAMERA 107

several hundred paces from the camp it was quite impossible
to make observations with the artificial horizon. ‘To accom-
plish this we had to betake ourselves to a somewhat distant
clearing, and, by placing guards all round, to prevent even
single natives from passing. |

Many hours a day were occupied in making and arranging
collections. As the rainy season was approaching, insects and
butterflies were especially numerous ; so were sauria, including
big lizards and several kinds of chameleons. Specimens of
one shining brownish-black variety, about the size of an earth-
worm or blindworm, were caught in camp almost every day.

The forest round about Taveta is a perfect mine of wealth
to the ornithologist, but it is extremely difficult to get at the
birds, as they avoid the close-growing lower branches of the
trees, which impede their flight, building their nests on the very
highest accessible point, beyond the range of grape-shot. And
if by chance one is fortunate enough to bring down a bird,
one may be pretty sure that it will remain hanging on some
branch, or fall to the ground where it cannot possibly be got at.

We had to take photographs, too, and that under many
difficulties, for the appearance of the apparatus in the distance
was always the immediate signal for the dispersion of the
natives, however many happened to be gathered together at the
time. The only thing to be done was to set up the camera in
some much-frequented spot, and then to wait patiently. For a
long time after this place would be shunned by everyone, but
by degrees the dreaded object was forgotten, and it became
possible now and then to take off a group unawares. Mean-
while, however, the apparatus often got shifted, or the plates
had become injured by too long an exposure to the heat of the
sun, so that many of them were quite useless.

The monotony of our life in camp was also reheved by
various incidents, such as the arrival of a messenger from Miriali,

108 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO: AND MERU

a Kilimanjaro chief, bringing an ox and a goat as presents; an
occasional afternoon hunting expedition, generally in the direc-
tion of Lake Jipe; the arrival of thirty Wanegwana from Little
Arusha, on a visit to Jumbe Kimemeta, whom we, however,
had the honour of entertaining ; and, most thrilling of all, a big
fire in the camp, which, thanks to the way the wind was blow-

THE CAMP ON FIRE.

ine at the time, we were able to get under before much
mischief was done.

Lastly, we had to despatch caravans in different directions
to collect our scattered goods. One hundred men must go to
Pangani, and another hundred to Mombasa. ‘There were
plenty of volunteers for this service, for everyone was eager
to go back to the coast; some had purchases to make or
business to attend to in Pangani, others in Mombasa. We

WE START FOR MOUNT MERU 109

listened to all that was put before us, and decided to send those
who wanted to go to Pangani to Mombasa, and vwice versa.
Great was the astonishment and dismay amongst the men when
their several destinations became known, and although we had
carefully weeded out all whom we thought likely to run away,
we could not hope that every one would return to us.

We decided to leave Taveta for a month, with the rest of
the men in good health, to pay a visit to Miriali and have a
look at Mount Meru. We had several other ends in view
besides exploration. It was necessary that we should make
friends with Miriali, as we should have to start from his terri-
tory for our proposed ascent of Kibo; and we were also
anxious to get him to take charge of our donkeys and cattle, the
Taveta forest being most unsuitable and unhealthy for them.
Our visit to Mount Meru would also afford us an excellent
opportunity for buying pack-animals of the Wakwafi, who are
settled at its base in Arusha-Wa-Ju, or Great Arusha.

The caravan with which we left Taveta on April 12 con-
sisted of sixty-six porters and servants, whilst to euard our
camp and goods there remained behind only Qualla and a
dozen sick men. Jumbe Kimemeta, who, though very ill, would
not hear of being left behind, was carried with us in a
hammock.

Our trip had been so hastily decided on that there was a
ereat deal left to do at the last minute, and the last of us did
not leave the camp till ten o’clock in the morning for the
rendezvous on the skirts of the wood. Our men had gone off
one by one as they were ready, and as none of them knew their
way through the wood, they most of them went astray. Some
one thousand and ninety-four yards only in a straight line from
the camp had to be crossed to reach the edge of the wood,
but it was four o’clock in the afternoon before we were all
together again.

110 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

Weary of the long delay, we started again immediately, and
proceeded in a north-westerly direction, up an almost impercep-
tibly ascending plain, towards the northern side of Kilimanjaro.
Groups of acacias or isolated trees of a soft green colour
dotted the steppe, whilst here and there rose a knotty greyish-
yellow ebony-tree. There were no palms, but the general
appearance of this natural park was extremely pleasing,
especially as it was tenanted by a great variety of game.

Timid ostriches fled with great strides across the plain
at our approach, their quills erect to accelerate their speed,
whilst gazelles and larger antelopes jostled each other as they
gathered about us in quite a confiding manner, so that we
might easily have shot them as we went along. And it was
difficult to resist such a temptation; so, although as a rule we
refrained from mixing up hunting with marching, I let the men
go on, and lingered im the rear behind the herd of antelopes,
for I felt I must secure one or two animals. But, strange to
relate, directly I leit the track the confidence of the wild
creatures was destroyed. They were quick to gain wisdom
by experience, and in spite of all my caution they sped away
and were soon out of the range of my weapon. It was
impossible for me to reach any cover from which to take aim
without the alarm being given by one or another animal, and
before long nearly the entire herd of antelopes had dis-
appeared. They were succeeded, however, by a number of
fine zebras, who approached slowly, grazing as they came.
Up went my rifle again, but only with the same disappointing
result; the zebras, too, disappeared in a cloud of dust. One
very inquisitive hartebeest had, however, lingered behind his
comrades, so there was still a hope of some venison. And
with all the patience and caution known to none but a hunter
once disappointed of his prey, I crept on all-fours through
the long grass to the friendly shelter of an acacia, feeling this

MY FIRST RHINOCEROS Lit

time quite sure of my victim; but at the critical moment up
flew alot of small birds, screeching loudly. Of course I sprang
forward to send a flying shot after the retreating antelope; but
now I made a very unexpected discovery, for I all but fell over
the body of a great rhinoceros, which was taking a nap in the
long grass under the acacia. A whispered ‘ aru!’ (rhinoceros)
revealed the position to my black companion, Muallim Harun,
and then, following his example, I slunk like a snake along the
ground and made for the shelter of another tree. Arrived
there we felt safe, but the long grass prevented us from seeing
more than one ear and the tip of the nose of the rhinoceros.
To make him get up we now both shouted at the top of our
voices, ‘ Holla! Holla!’ but the sound died away on the plain
without result. The rhinoceros wanted more than the noise
we could make to rouse him from his slumbers, and I was just
about to fire at him when a dozen zebras suddenly appeared,
crossing the plain in single file. As a matter of course, I
now pointed my weapon at them, and hoped, so to speak, to
be lucky enough to kill two birds with one stone, and it fell
out just as I wished. Crack went the shot, there was a cloud
of dust; but this time one of the beautiful creatures lav on
the ground, whilst the rhinoceros started up and revealed the
whole of his huge bulk. As if annoyed at being disturbed, he
tossed up his head, sniffed the air, and stared in our direction,
but without shifting his position. Of course there was no
chance of shooting him thus; but the sight was so new to me
that I should have gazed at him for some time longer if a sharp
shower of rain had not come to our assistance. The rhinoceros
lost scent of us, moved away, and thus exposed his whole flank
to us. JI was not very well up in the subject of rhinoceros
shooting ; but I thought a good volley would not be amiss with
such very big game, so I got my 500 Express rifle into position,
and taking careful aim I fired. The rhinoceros shuddered, but

112 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

remained standing as if rooted to the spot; it needed a second
shot to bring him to his knees, and we presently found him dead
where he had beensleeping. Meanwhile the caravan had long
been out of sight, so we had to leave our victims on the ground
and hasten forward.

It was quite dark when we reached the camp, which, on
account of a storm of rain, Count Teleki had pitched earlier
than he had intended on the north side of the hill. The next
day Jumbe Kimemeta took the men a couple of hours’ farther
march to the Sagana stream, whilst we remained behind to
hunt; but we had no luck, and got back to camp late in the
afternoon dead tired, and with absolutely empty hands.

From Sagana the route led straight to the mountain, and the
dry yellow steppe grass and thorny acacias were exchanged for
a varied flora reminding us of that of Europe. Soon after we
had crossed the Huna stream, which flowed rapidly along in a
deep bed, we came upon the first natives. Under their
cuidance we went on, under the shade of thickly growing
hedges, flanked by banana-trees, till we came to Miriali’s home.
The crowds of natives who had watched our approach parted
to make room for us, and then Sultan Miriali, chief of the little
State of Marangu, wearing a bright-red flowing toga, appeared,
and, offering us his right hand to shake, bid us welcome with
the words, ‘ Yambo, Bwana.’ In fluent Kiswahili, but with some
little hesitation, he next inquired if he should show us where to
camp, and led the way, followed by the whole community. We
halted in a meadow with soft greensward, watered by a little
eureling brook about one foot wide, and surrounded by banana-
trees. Miriali saw how delighted we were with this charming
camping-eground, and, with almost Spanish politeness, he placed
it at Count Teleki’s disposal. He struck us as being a young
man of a highly nervous temperament, and he now left us; but
not so his followers, and we were soon surrounded by crowds

MIRIALIS MOTHER its

of natives. Very soon, too, we were honoured by a visit from
the barefooted mother of the ruler of the land. In default of
the purple she was distinguished from other old women by an
extra number of strings of bead and copper chains. This, then,
was the worthy matron whose piercing glance had nearly
blinded Johnston! Although remembering that scene, we were

A KILIMANJARO BEAUTY.

very glad to welcome our visitor. Our politeness was not very
long proof against her perpetual begging for kilengele (beads),
and when breakfast-time came she was dismissed by our Somal
with a short ‘ Tonga mbuya !’ (* Off with you now, friend !’) like
any other mortal, and bowed out of our tent.
Miriali came again in the afternoon, and we offered him
VOL. I i

114. TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

coffee and cigarettes. He tried both, and seemed to begin to
feel more at ease. He was, of course, accompanied by his very
numerous court, and his people squatted round us, taking the
greatest interest in our interview. Miriali, who was only about
twenty-four or twenty-five years old then, though he said he was
ahundred, was a very intelligent-looking young fellow, with very
little of the negro in his mobile features. According to the
custom of the country, he wore in the pierced lobe of the right
ear a round bit of wood some four inches long and about the
thickness of a lead-pencil, whilst in the unusually distended lobe
of the left was a decorated wooden ring, some four inches in
diameter. Round his neck he had only a string of blue beads.

He seemed altogether simpler-minded than his people, and
we were able to converse with him in Kiswahili without an
interpreter. Wehadmany a pleasant chat as he became more
at home with us. If we told him a story or explained anything
to him, he generally translated into Kijagea for the benefit of
his followers. Muiriah was fond of talking, and was apparently
witty, for his sallies were constantly greeted with shouts of
merriment. |

As far as we could judge, the natives of Marangu were very
devoted to their young mangi, or chief; but of course his real
power depended upon the fighting-men of the community, and
waned or increased according to their good pleasure.

In the afternoon Miriali invited us to go with him to his
quarters, and led us there by a different route to that taken
when we first arrived. Through a low, narrow plank door, we
came first to a little wood of banana-trees, then through a
second opening into an avenue of lofty dracena, leading to a
eroup of huts surrounded by a strong palisade of sawn planks.
Then, without the slightest embarrassment, our host’s whole

harem—three wives and three slave-girls—came out to greet

us, one of the former being, as Miriali informed us, a daughter

MIRIAL’S WINDOWLESS ‘ PALACE’ rls

of his notorious neighbour, Mandara, whom, as a matter of
policy, he had bought for 300 cows. Muiriali had shown better
taste in the choice of his slave-girls than in that of his wives,
for they were pretty little things, even from the European point
of view. They were charmingly confiding with us, nestling up
to us like young kittens, and pushing up the sleeves of our
shirts to look at our white skin. They were all most anxious
to serve us, and one of them persistently held up rather a big
looking-giass opposite to us; but of all their endearing chatter-
ing the chief refrain was ‘kilengele. The wives were all
wrapped in long purple mantles, whilst the girls wore the
simple but picturesque costume, represented on page 117,
common to all unmarried women of the Kilimanjaro district.
We would gladly have lingered much longer with them, but
Miriali was impatient to take us on to see his palace, of which
he appeared to be not a httle proud. It greatly resembled the
negro huts of Zanzibar, and was, in fact, built by men from
the coast, many of whom attach themselves like parasites to
all the Kilimanjaro chieftains. Like the worthy burghers of old
with their town-hall, the architects had forgotten the windows,
so that it was quite dark inside. But Miriali had brought with
him a couple of fine candles, so to please him we crept after
him through all his apartments. The most beautiful thing
about the house was its site, for 1t commanded a grand view
of the country south of Kilimanjaro. We therefore gladly sat
down here and enjoyed a positively idyllic hour gazing at the
scene spread out before us. /

At our feet squatted Miriali’s wives and slave-girls, who
drageed themselves nearer and nearer to us, whispering every
now and then a soft ‘kilengele’ in our ears. The chief himself was
drinking pombe, a sour and weak concoction made from eleusine!

* The eleusine so often mentioned by the author is a cereal native to East

Africa.—TRANS.
Tee

116 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

and bananas, which we did not much care for. He became
more and more communicative and friendly, and our ques-
tions elicited a good deal of geographical information. The
bluish-grey forest, he told us, with the clouds of smoke
above it, was Taveta, the gleaming water was Lake Jipe, the
lofty mountain on our left was Mount Teita; and so he went
on naming every height included in the lovely view, till he
came to snow-capped Kibo, and we knew it was time for us
to go.

Later in the evening Miriali came to our camp, bringing
with him an ox, a fine spear, a sword, and three colobus skins.!
As a return present Count Teleki at once produced a good
revolver, whilst the usual gift of a quantity of stuffs, beads,
wire, gunpowder, &c., was, according to custom, handed over
late in the evening in perfect silence.

During the night it rained in torrents, and the next morning,
which broke grey and dull, we had our first opportunity of
watching the metamorphosis of termites. We had passed a
good many ‘ white ant’ hills on our way to Kilimanjaro, but so
far we had never seen their inhabitants. But to-day the early
morning mist was alive with myriads of them, looking like snow-
flakes as they fluttered about on their newly acquired wings.
In spite of the great size of these wings, they could only fly very
slowly, and they seemed chiefly anxious to get rid of their new
appendages. Presently they all sank down, and alighting on
the ground, on grass, leaves, or on the tent, they doubled them-
selves up, and with their hind legs stripped off, first the hinder,
and then the front wings. Now and then they bit off each
other’s wings, the whole thing lasting about an hour ; and soon
the now creeping termites had all disappeared, leaving nothing

1 The Colobus guereza is a beautiful monkey, native to the dense forests near
Kilimanjaro, its most noteworthy peculiarity being the bushy white tail and streaks
of white hair on its sides.—TRANS.

Ae GREAT FLIRT Ee

to show what had taken place but the countless wings with
which everything near was covered.

MIRIALI’S WIVES AND SLAVE-GIRLS.

In the course of the morning the weather brightened, the
sun came out, and with it Miriali and all his people, big and
little, including his mother and one of his sisters—the latter,

118 + TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

so unkind rumour said, was a great flirt; im fact our tent was
besieged. But this did not put us about much, though it
hastened our departure, as we saw we should not get another
moment to ourselves.

We meant to start again early on the 16th instant, but
it poured so with rain that we had to wait some hours.
Miriali, who seemed eager to make the very elements yield to
our wishes, was greatly distressed, and told us he had instructed
his mganga (medicine-man) to stop the rain the evening
before. Then he went home, probably to drown his regret in
wine, for when we passed a few hours afterwards he was
sitting on a heap of dried banana-leaves, quite tipsy from the
pombe he had drunk.

To avoid a very bad bit of road we had to go back in the
direction we had come, not turning westwards till we had
passed very near our old camping-place on the Sagana stream.

We halted at an abrupt bend of the Huna river, beneath
beautiful and lofty trees. A number of straw huts in good
condition, old corks, bones, &c., proved that we had chosen a
spot lately occupied by the English hunting party. These
relics had attracted a great number of butterflies with brillant
cleaming red and green wings. Late in‘ the evening some men
arrived from the chief of Mochi, bringing an ox as a present
for Jumbe Kimemeta. This was meant to induce Kimemeta
to get us to go to Mochi; but the leader of our caravan knew
Count Teleki did not wish to open relations with Mandara, so
in spite of the risk of hurting his feelings the ox was sent
back.

During the next day we followed a westerly course on a
wooded plain at the foot of Kilimanjaro. On the 17th we
crossed several ravines and camped by the Kirua stream. We
now left the beaten track altogether, and followed a mere
game-spoor, none of our men knowing the way. Rain fell

JUMBE KIMEMETA IS SWUNG ACROSS A TORRENT 119

constantly, fortunately generally at night ; but the path became
very slippery, the meadows grew swampy, the little streams
were converted into rushing waterfalls, and the grass and bushes
reeked with damp, so that our clothes were always wet. The
chief trees were baobabs, which gave a weird character to the
landscape. In many hollow trunks hung the beehives peculiar
to the country, and, taught by our previous experience, we gave
such trees as wide a berth as possible; but, for all that, our
rearguard made closer acquaintance with the bees, and fled in
every direction. It was several hours before we were all to-
gether again on the banks of the rapid Kirerema, which is from
eighteen to thirty-three feet wide, and flows through a very
deep channel, though the water itself 1s but from half to three-
quarters of a foot deep. On account of the bee episode we
camped here, but there was not a dry spot to be found, and we
were glad enough to be off again. A march of three hours and
a half brought us to another stream, some twenty-one and a half
yards wide and of little depth, but so rapid we could not have
crossed it without. a rope. We had got rather too near the
densely wooded base of the mountain now, so we bore a little
south the next morning to get into a more open district. We
crossed two more small brooks, and then came to a mountain
torrent some sixteen and a half yards broad, which brought our
march to an end for the day. Huge masses of rock encum-
bered the bed, making the water seethe and foam, so that we
could not hope to use our canvas boat. So we made a strong
rope taut well above the fall, and our bales being provided
with slip-nooses, we swung them across the water as quick as
lightning without a singlemishap. Jumbe Kimemeta made the
transit in his hammock in a similar manner. The other side
of the torrent was so thickly overgrown that we had to
make a clearing before we could camp; but we had better
shelter for the men, of which we were glad, as they were

120 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

srumbling very much at the continuous rain. Here Count

Teleki had a very dangerous visitor—a puff-adder with poison-
fangs nearly an inch and a half long.

On April 20 we reached the Weruweru river, the largest of
the Kilimanjaro tributaries of the Pangani, which is here a
little more than twenty-two yards wide, and of considerable
depth, flowing rapidly southwards. The whole Expedition was
ferried over it in our canvas boat. but first some of the men had
to swim across with a rope, a rather perilous task, as all these
rivers are full of crocodiles. There is not much risk in deep
water, because the monsters cannot strike a really formidable
blow with their tails unless the body rests on the ground. The
chief danger was on the banks, so we always fired a volley before
we sent the men into the water. We had only one boat with
us, and it took two hours and a half to get the men and bales
over. The cattle and donkeys we simply drove into the river,
and the former swam over bravely enough, but the latter,
though they knew perfectly well how to swim, seemed to lose
their heads in deep water, and drifted dangerously down-
stream. Sheep and goats always have to be carried, even over
quite shallow brooks.

After crossing the Weruweru we bore westward, and camped
at one o'clock near a httle stream called the Kikaso. The
districts traversed were now much more open; baobabs, with
low bushes and thickets of sanseviera, were almost the only
vegetation.

In the densely wooded districts through which we had
lately passed we had hunted in vain, all the large game pre-
ferring the open plain. The only traces of wild animals were
the heaps of elephant dung, which were often the height of a
man, and were extremely useful to us, as they generally remained
dry, and served us for fuel when nothing else was to be had.
Although our cook had grown grey in African travel, and was

WE RUN SHORT OF FOOD al

quite an adept at fire-making, it was often a very long business,
most trying to our patience, and, generally speaking, a shelter
had to be erected to begin with.

We had nearly exhausted the food we had brought with us,
and as we were anxious to save our cattle, we had to fill the

end NENA NT
N INVA

GIRAFFES.

men’s pots with game. Soin the afternoon we went off hunting,
Count Teleki in a southerly and I in a westerly direction, the
other side of the stream, whilst the men tried their luck at fishing.

I found an open steppe on the west of the Kikaso, with
some pretty thick vegetation in the distance. The first glance

122 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

was not particularly reassuring, and only after a long search
with the help of glasses did I spy a small herd of giraffes
browsing far away to leeward. Giraffes are very difficult to
stalk, as their long necks enable them to see over the bushes,
and, besides, they always keep a good look-out. With very
little hope of a satisfactory result, I set to work to hunt the
shy creatures. As the wind was unfavourable to me, I had to
make a wide detour; but I had hardly stepped on to the plain,
leaving the bush behind me, before I came quite suddenly upon
a rhinoceros. A shot from my rifle, calibre 8, made it whirl
round several times and dash off with a speed no one would
have expected from such a heavy animal. When it was some
200 paces off it stopped, swayed to and fro for a few moments,
then, as the blood poured from its mouth, it fell down dead.

A little later I came upon a pair of rhinoceroses standing
carelessly at the edge of a thicket, one completely caked with
brown mud, the other of a black colour. This time I fired with
my 000 Express rifle, at a distance of some seventy paces, at
the shoulder of the larger of the two animals. The wounded
creature dashed away, whilst the other, after hesitating a
moment, followed it, and I found one lying dead in the bush,
the other standing beside it. For the third time I fired, bring-
ing down my third rhinoceros. In each case my charge had
taken effect behind the shoulder-blade and pierced both lungs.
I felt I had done enough now, and, leaving my gun-bearer
beside my trophies, I returned to camp to send men out to
fetch the meat.

Count Teleki had not been so successful, as he had only
brought down two fine water-bucks, and had sighted no other
game. The so-called water-buck is one of the finest of the
antelope family. Except for the antlers, it greatly resembles
in form, colour, and size the noble stag of Kurope. It takes its
name from the fact that its habitat 1s always near running water.

THE HYDNORA AFRICANA 125

As we had now plenty of meat for the men, Count Teleki
decided to rest a day and enjoy some more hunting. After a
rainy night the morning broke clear and bright, and we started
off this time together in high spirits, but only to be disappointed,
for the morning slipped away without our having seen any big
game at all; on the other hand, we had a very pleasant ramble
in beautiful scenery, the vegetation at its freshest and greenest,
the shrubs in flower, and even the baobabs, generally so bare
and grey, were now putting forth new shoots. The soft air
which swept across the steppe was laden with sweet scents, the
birds were chirping happily, and we
ourselves felt a kind of intoxication
in the midst of all the beauty sur-
rounding us.

A baobab that has, if I may so
express it, died of old age presents a

very singular appearance. It splits

open, and the silver-grey bark, with
the brittle white inner wood, falls off
in strips, making a heap of wreckage
which, bleached by wind and sun, looks

from the distance so exactly ike ruined
tents that we were quite deceived

till we examined one of them closely. =
Of the flowering plants, a kind of HYDNORA AFRICANA.
root-parasite especially struck us,

consisting of single red blossoms about a foot long, which,
with their stems, were almost hidden in the ground. We
found them along the banks of the Kikaso, but nowhere else.
Our Somal, who were familiar with them in their own land,
called them ikke, and ate them raw. They have an acrid
watery taste, and, especially when decaying, emit a putrid
odour. They belong to the Cytinacese genus, and are known

124 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

to botanists as the Hydnora africana. The fleshy flowers of
those we saw were some twelve to sixteen inches long, and
consisted of a single cup-like flower, the outer rim of which
ig cut into four lips. :

We dreamed away the hot mid-day hours stretched out upon
the greensward opposite Kybo, which now showed its head
again, and resumed our walk in the cool of the afternoon.
Flocks of vultures and storks guided us to the remains of my
yesterday's victims, and then we bore in a south-westerly

: ) ue g
< a

:
sl

HORNS OF THE RHINOCEROS BICORNIS.

a hice

| _ (

:

L i

direction. A water-buck disturbed in its siesta, which sprang
up suddenly almost at our feet, was the only game which came
within range. We both missed him; but 1 followed on his track,
whilst Count Teleki went on in the original direction, so that we
were separated in a very unexpected manner. With two atten-
dants to carry my guns, I penetrated into a very wild and
lonely district, where the baobab-trees were closer together and
the ground was strewn with great blocks of volcanic rock, half-
hidden in the long grass. But there was nothing to shoot, and
I was beginning to console myself with botanising, when we

SURPRISED BY A RHINOCEROS 5

came on numerous fresh buffalo-spoors. The animals had evi-
dently only just passed, as the peculiar musk scent there always
is about them still lingered in theair. We followed the tracks
carefully, but did not come up with the buffaloes, though we sur-
prised a rhinoceros and very nearly had a mishap with him.
We had only just noticed an ominous grunting in the thick
bushes on our right, when crash went some branches, and a huge
brownish-black beast dashed out with such tremendous impetus
that I had only just time to step backwards into the bush and
avoid the charge. I saw my two men fleeing before the
lowered head of the rhinoceros, then I lost sight of them, and
all was still. In the greatest anxiety, I shouted to them, and to
my delighted relief they both answered. Simba had with great
presence of mind turned aside into the bush, and though he was
a good deal scratched, he escaped. ‘he other man had been
in no real danger, but in his fright he had flung away my rifle,
and we found it afterwards with both barrels stopped up with
earth. We were a good bit upset by the surprise, and went on
cautiously enough after this, expecting to see some huge beast
behind every bush. It was beginning to get dark when we
really did come upon another rhinoceros standing just in our
path. My charge took effect, however, and he went off ap-
parently mortally wounded, but it was too late to follow him.
It had not rained all day, but at midnight it began to pour,
and continued steadily till twelve o’clock the next morning.
Our poor men had a bad time of it, as it was impossible to
keep the fires alight. They looked as miserable as the weather
the next morning, and the reproachful glances they cast at us
said as plainly as possible that they considered us out of our
minds for choosing to travel in the rainy season. But we were
not to be daunted, and though we were obliged to wade through
water nearly up to our thighs, and our clothes were wet up to
the waist, the green of the thickets looked all the fresher and

126 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

brighter for the wet. Still, after three hours’ marching under
these conditions even we had had enough of it, so we halted
just where we happened to be. The thermometer registered
+ 20° Centigrade, but we all gathered shivering round our cook,
who was this time more than half an hour before he could get
a fire. Our march had been along the left bank of the Kikaso
and across the two streams with troubled milky waters alluded
to in Baron von der Decken’s travels; and before we reached
them we passed one of the camping-places of the English
sportsmen, who had started a few weeks earlier intending to
explore the virgin hunting-grounds on the south of Mount
Meru, but, as related in Sir John C. Willoughby’s ‘ East Africa
and its Big Game,’ they heard such disquieting rumours at
Kikaso of the number of Masai in the neighbourhood that
they decided to turn back. I may add here that travellers are
often falsely informed, partly unintentionally, as there are
always many stories about of the approaching of the dreaded
Masai, and partly intentionally, the caravan people deceiving
them in the hope of preventing them from going farther.
Hunting was anything but pleasant work in the swampy,
densely overgrown woods, and Count Teleki came home after
an afternoon expedition empty handed but in good spirits, as
he had seen a great quantity of big game, including four
rhinoceroses standing close together to leeward. He had not
got within range when a fifth rhinoceros rose up from the long
erass and made straight for him. This was exactly what he
wanted ; but it happened at rather an awkward moment, as he
was just tightening ashawl he was wearing on account of the
cold and damp. The rhinoceros was close upon him before
he could get his rifle in position; but the charge took effect,
the animal whirled round once, and then disappeared in the
thicket. Count Teleki followed his track for some distance,
but abandoned it later, as he came in sight of a herd of twenty-

l
|

li
|

/

i
|

is

| iN

BIRDS OF PREY FEASTING.

IN SIGHT OF SIGIRARI 129

two giraffes. On such an open tract, however, he found it

impossible to come within range of these shy creatures, so he
presently gave them up to return to his rhinoceros, only to
swerve aside once more to shoot a water-buck, which, though
sorely wounded, got away. Pursuing it into the ever thickening
bush, the Count surprised three rhinoceroses, who broke through
the wood, snorting furiously ; a flymeg shot at one of them was
all he could achieve, and as it was now nearly dark he was
obliged to give up further hunting.

According to our men, they often heard hons roaring when
we were asleep, so we determined to keep watch ourselves
to-night for the first time. One hon made the circuit of our
camp, for though it was too dark to see it, we could hear its
deep bass voice. We were unprotected by any hedge of bushes,
but the yelling of the natives was enough to make the king of
beasts keep his distance.

On the next day, April 24, we crossed the Kikaso, and,
bearing westwards, came to the flat landscape between Mounts
Kilimanjaro and Meru. We were now in sight of the densely
populated Masai district of Sigirari, and we could make out the
herds of cattle, some of them numbering thousands, belonging
to the natives. In addition to these, an unusual number of wild
animals haunted the flat green steppe watered by the Engilata
river, fringed with dark-green trees. Ostriches, zebras, antelopes,
gazelles, and giraffes wandered about in regular herds so near
the cattle of the Masai that they looked as if they belonged to
them. There were plenty of rhinoceroses too, and Count
Teleki brought one down with a lucky shot at about 300 paces
from our track. Ourmen sprang upon the body with screams
of delight, and began at once to cut off the flesh with their
knives, each eager to secure a good portion of the fat of the
abdomen, which they consider the best part.

Very soon, like a speck in the sky, scarce visible to the

VOL. I | K

130 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU —

naked eye, appeared the first vulture. So keen is the vision of
birds of prey that they can spy the very tiniest morsel anywhere
in a vast range of space. Before long the vultures formed a
cloud above us, circling ever nearer, till they settled on the
ground close by us, to wait patiently till we left the remains of
the feast for them. ‘They came so near that we could have
thrown stones at them ; but they showed no shyness whatever,
as no one ever drives them away. After the vultures came the
so-called marabout storks. Directly we turned our backs on
the prey the foul creatures were at work upon it, and the
struggle for the best bits, especially the entrails, began again,
whilst the storks marched round and round like sentries, ready,
as they cannot get the flesh off the bones themselves with their
long bills, to pounce on the portions secured by the vultures.
We never saw the vultures make any fight for their spoil,
although they were bigger and stronger than the storks.

We had still a long way to go that day, so we left the vultures
and storks to their banquet and passed on across the bare steppe
on the west of the Kikaso. That portion between it and the
Engilata river we found to be dotted with little hills from 16
to 30 feet high and covered with what looked like molehills.
We had noted this peculiar formation from a distance, and had
hoped to examine it closely; but all our attention was now con-
centrated upon the natives, who, like the vultures, spied us
from afar, and gathered about us in ever increasing numbers
from every side. We watched their approach with the greatest
interest, and, in accordance with the custom of the country,
waited, to exchange news with them. The composed and un-
embarrassed manner in which they greeted us and offered us
their hands contrasted forcibly with the shyness of most wild
negro tribes. The way they chatted and laughed was really
charming. During the short halt some fifty or sixty natives
gathered about us ; of course we whites were the chief objects

IN THE HEART OF MASAILAND 13]

of attention, and as many of them had never before seen a
European, it was interesting to note the impression we made
upon them. They generally gazed at us for a bit, at first
with an expression partly of astonishment, partly of suspicion ;
then they ventured on a ‘ Lezbon, sobaj!’ or ‘God bless you,
medicine-man!” to which, of course, as in duty bound, we re-
plied with an ‘ Lbaj, moran, or ‘ The same to you, warrior,’ and
the spell was broken. Evidently relieved, they would burst
out laughing, whilst all those standing round joined in. One
moran amused us immensely. Not dreaming of what he was
going to see, he pushed through the natives gathered about us,
and, coming upon us suddenly, started back in the greatest
terror. Whencuriosity was satisfied on both sides we resumed
our march, escorted by the whole crowd of natives, passed two
of their kraals, forded the Engilata river, and camped on the
- farther side.

We were now, with but a very small and weak caravan, in
the very heart of the most densely populated portion of Masai-
land, but we had no reason to complain of the behaviour of the
natives. On the contrary, except for a few old and apparently
influential men, they left us quite alone whilst we were getting
our camp into order. Not until our tents were pitched and
the bales piled up did they remind us of the hongo. In con-
nection with this exchange of presents the moruwu, or married
men, gathered round the outside of the camp, whilst the moran,
or warriors, prepared to perform the usual dance. Divided
into two portions, according to their kraals or villages, they
approached with measured steps, singing the customary song
of welcome to caravans ; then they squatted down on the grass
behind their oval shields, and, like the elders, waited patiently
for the present. Jumbe Kimemeta, although still suffering a
- good deal, now approached them, accompanied by a few Askari,
with a view to arranging about the amount of the hongo.

K 2

132 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

In his ‘Through Masailand’ Joseph Thomson gives a very
detailed description of the Masai, and those who are familiar
with his book will not find very much that is new about them
in this.1 With the scene we now witnessed we felt strangely
familar, as if it were part of a play with the dramatis persone
of which we were already acquainted, and this impression was
intensified whilst the formal proceedings went on.

Our envoy, Kimemeta, and his attendant approached the
eroup of warriors with an air of solemn dignity, and were
received by one Lygonani, the representative of the Masai,
with corresponding ceremony.

Talking and listening seem to be as great a delight to the
Masai as is raiding cattle, and they are thorough adepts in both
arts. They have a great command of dialectics, and though
their views and wishes are pronounced and one-sided enough,
they know how to wrap them up in an infinite variety of expres-
sions. A Masai Demosthenes must be gifted with inexhaustible
prolixity, and parliamentary etiquette requires that the warriors
should listen quietly to his tirades without interrupting him,
They must not show a sign of curiosity. or of emotion, whether
the matter under discussion be a murder or a few strings of
beads. The orator, who holds in his right hand an ornamented
wooden club, with which to emphasise his meaning, must never
be interrupted by a word or even an exclamation.

Our hongo consisted of 66 lb. of iron wire, ten naiberes,
and a certain quantity of beads, which was given to the moruu,
who kept a certain portion for themselves, and handed over the
rest to the morans.

Remembering Thomson’s description in pages 94 and 95 of
his ‘ Through Masailand,’ we expected a fight to ensue for the
spoil, and we awaited the onslaught with bated breath; but

1 The Author does not do himself justice in this remark, as he brings very forcibly
before his readers many qualities of the Masai not hinted at in the writings of his
predecessors.— TRANS. ’

DR. FISCHER AND JOSEPH THOMSON faa

nothing of the kind occurred, and it seemed as if the warriors
knew that for us the dark cloud of terror enveloping them had
rolled away. If I didnot explain further, these remarks might
very easily be misunderstood, so I will add how it was that, even
before we had seen any of them, we had decided that the Masai
were an unusually brave, but at the same time a bloodthirsty
and covetous, people. We had had no need to refer to old
accounts and rumours, but had got our information from
the reports of Dr. Fischer and Joseph Thomson, who were
the first Europeans in a position to give their own im-
pressions. Before they went to Masailand a good many
native traders had visited it in quest of ivory; but as Dr.
Fischer, who knew the Zanzibari so well, points out, these
traders were anything but a high class of men themselves.
Dr. Fischer’s account of his own journey is not very detailed,
but it paints the Masai in rather less sanguinary colours; and
specially noteworthy is one account he gives of a bloody fight
amongst the natives, in which, however, his caravan was left
unmolested, whilst the accidental manslaughter of one of his
people was atoned for by a gift of wire, stuffs, and beads.
Thomson describes the Masaiin very much the same style as
the ivory traders, but does not give any instances of bad treat-
ment at their hands, and further acquaintance with these much-
dreaded warriors convinced us that travelling amongst them
was not fraught with any special danger; and we still felt the
same after my bold trip to Mount Meru and Count Teleki’s later
march, without guide or interpreter, from Masailand to Pangani.
When the tribute ceremonies were over the natives
streamed into our camp, and showed by their happy demeanour
how relieved they were that the reserve required by the
customs of their country could now be thrown aside. The
women and children brought firewood, the old men squatted
down round the fires to chat with our men, whilst we found

134 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

ourselves besieged by the younger people, who did not quit us
till nightfall, and were all eager to shake hands with us, to
touch and examine everything.

Kimemeta told us we might expect a visit the next day
from some four or five hundred warriors, and advised us to be
off as early as possible, to avoid having to give another big
hongo. The Masai are deep sleepers, not fond of the early
morning dew, and rarely leave their huts before sunrise; but
unfortunately it was wet the next morning, so we could not
hasten our departure
as much as we wished.
Our march now led

us in a south-west-
erly direction from
the Engilata river,
across a plain sparsely
covered with grass,
and here and there
quite bare. We met

“no natives either, and

could only see their
HORNS OF THE GNU-ANTELOPE. herds on the banks

of the Dariama river,

in the distance looking like bright spots amongst the dark-
ereen foliage. To make up for this there were quantities of big
game, chiefly gnu-antelopes and zebras, on the steppe. The
former are greyish-black animals, more lke oxen than ante-
lopes in general form, looking from a distance very like
buffaloes, especially as their horns greatly resemble those of
the latter; but the mistake is soon perceived when they
dash off at one’s approach, with long leaps in the air like
young foals. Equally beautiful are the zebras, especially when,
alarmed, they stamp about here and there, yelping hke so many

ON THE WAY TO MOUNT MERU | 135

little dogs. We also saw a good many ostriches and gazelles,
and made our first acquaintance with the handsome antelope
named after Thomson the Gazella Thomson. It was of course
impossible to do much hunting on the bare steppe, where there
was no shelter to be had; but Count Teleki managed to bring
down, from a distance of three or four hundred paces, three
enu-antelopes, one zebra, and one Gazella Thomsom. The
ostriches seemed to know by instinct how to keep well out of
range.

At about eleven o'clock eight old moruu caught us up, and
advised us respectfully to change the direction of our march,
or we should meet the armed morans we had started early to
avoid; and under their guidance we bore at once north-west-
ward, across a barren plain strewn with blocks of lava, and
with here and there ponds of clear gleaming rainwater, beside
one of which we camped at mid-day, as it was pouring again.

We were now already at the foot of Mount Meru, the height
of which is estimated by Dr. O. Kersten, who triangulated it, as
14,638 feet ; but it was so completely enveloped in clouds, mist,
and rain, that not a sign of it could we see. In spite of the
wet weather, Count Teleki and I were in capital health ; but
many of the men had various complaints of the bowels, partly,
probably, owing to the damp, and partly to eating too much
meat. Our Somal suffered much, for they were nearly all
down at once with fever and dysentery, accompanied with
eruptions. ‘This, with our very limited knowledge of medicine,
of course made us very anxious. And though our Masai
friends had poimted out to us the direction in which lay the
settlement of the Wameru, or dwellers on Mount Meru, none
of our people had the least idea of the way. Luckily, however,
we hit upon the right path, and till we came to the beginning
of the ascent we followed it without mistake ; but here we got
confused amongst the many animal tracks, and stopped in a

136 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

meadow, undecided which way toturn. Everything was draped
in a deceptive grey mist, fine rain was falling, and we were
altogether very uncomfortable. We climbed up about 660 feet,
however, and at mid-day halted on the banks of a somewhat
rapid stream. It cleared in the afternoon, and we were able to
make out on the south the Sogonoy chain and many of the
heights behind it; so I betook myself to a low hill hard by to
complete our map, while Count Teleki started, rifle on shoulder,
to try his luck at hunting ; but he soon came back, having nearly
shot one of our own oxen. I had scarcely got my instruments
into position and begun my work when I noticed a great herd
of buffaloes coming out of a neighbouring thicket, and for a
moment I could see along string of brown backs swaying to and
fro. This made me careful, and I examined my surroundings
more closely, becoming aware of three other buffaloes quietly
erazing, but gradually coming nearer. At the foot of my hill
they paused and sniffed the air, then, apparently reassured,
they lay down, one or another getting up every now and then
to toss his head and sniff again. They evidently could not
make things out, and the wind not blowing from our camp, I
was puzzled by their proceedings till Count Teleki suddenly
appeared, approaching them without any suspicion of their
presence. I made a sign to him, and he at once carefully
stalked the animals from another direction. We watched them
for a few minutes longer, and then the Count broke the spell,
and I had the excitement of seeing a regular buffalo hunt,
whilst quite out of danger myself. We had heard wonderful
stories of these animals’ tenacity of life, so Count Teleki got
quite close to them before he fired. One of them fell badly
wounded, and the others dashed wildly away. We rushed
towards our victim, but before we reached it we heard a sound
like that made by a storm-wind, and as we gazed about us in
bewilderment a herd of some hundred buffaloes, jostling each

OUR MEN GO TO SEEK FOOD les wé

other as they came, dashed by, with lowered horns, in dangerous
proximity to us. Almost before we knew what they were they
were gone, the trembling of the ground and the clouds of dust
alone witnessing to their passage. We fired shot after shot
into the seething brown mass as rapidly as possible, and though
every bullet must have hit, not one animal fell.

The rain poured down in torrents all night, moderating a
little towards morning, but continuing in a steady stream,
shrouding everything in mist, so that we could see nothing a
hundred yards away. Between nine and ten o'clock in the
morning it generally stopped raining, but the sky remained
erey. Under such circumstances the loveliest scenery would
have looked dreary, and our spirits were gloomy too, though
not so gloomy as those of our men. We resumed our march in
a north-westerly direction on April 27, chmbine slowly up a
pathless slope, through long wet grass or swampy pools, now
and then inthe beds of small streams, finding them, in fact, much
easier walking. At mid-day we camped on the banks of a full
and rapid stream. There was not a trace of natives to be seen
anywhere, but we gave our men their ration in beads and stuffs
in the afternoon, telling them to find the Wameru and buy their
food from them. Some half of them went off at once, which
seemed simpler than taking the whole caravan to hunt up the
mountaineers. We awaited the return of the men with impa-
tience, and tried to pass the time in hunting, but the weather
soon put a stop to that. As the rain poured down, and hour
after hour passed by without a sign of our men, we began to
get anxious. Had we not only lately been warned by a strong
caravan of the thievish propensities of the Wameru, who
had come down in the darkness to carry off their goods?
Night fell, and we were beginning to feel sure that something
untoward had occurred, when we heard the muffled sound of a
shot, and presently our men began to drop in singly and in pairs,

138 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

wet to the skin, hungry, worn out with fatigue, not one of them
having brought anything. And the news they gave us was bad
enough. After wandering about a long time they had come
to a settlement of natives. At first they had been kindly
received and the Wameru seemed willing to trade; but when
their forces were strengthened by the arrival of others they fell
upon our men and took everything from them, thrashed them,
and drove them away. ‘Two of our Werndl carbines were also
lost. Our people made no defence, and did not fire a shot,
though they had all their weapons with them. Their accounts
gave us plenty of food for thought. To have yielded in this
way to an attack from the natives at the outset of the Expedi-
tion boded ul for its future fate, for how could we hope to
carry out our plans when. we had received such a check
whilst still in sight of Kilimanjaro, and almost within reach of
the coast? We must give our men confidence in themselves
and in their leader. We knew well enough that reputation
is everything in Africa, and we quickly determined to give
the natives a lesson, unless our weapons were restored to us
peaceably.

The wet weather the next day was calculated to damp our
ardour, but for all that the plan of our campaign of vengeance
was quickly formed. Our men were told of our intentions,
supplied with ammunition, and warned on no account to show the
white feather. Keeping well together, we slowly and in silence
climbed up the mountain, following the course of the stream.
We crossed it at a shallow place, then waded through a smaller
watercourse, and after a march of three hours found ourselves
in a clearing sparsely dotted with bush and surrounded by a
dense forest. There was no sign of the native settlement; but
the men assured us we were not an hour’s march from it, and
Count Teleki decided to halt here, although the water was some |
four to five inches deep. His idea was to leave the loads behind

WE PREPARE FOR WAR . 139

with me and twenty men to guard them, whilst he advanced to
the attack with the rest.

The next thing we did was to fortify the camp. The gravity
of the situation was recognised by all, and not an unnecessary
sound was made. Nothing was heard but the blows of the axes
as the trees were felled, whilst ten men with loaded repeating
rifles were told off as watchmen. The work proceeded rapidly,
but we had not nearly finished it when the first brown figures
appeared, creeping stealthily amongst the trees. We took no
notice of them, but worked the harder at our defences. The
quiet determination of our attitude, which was at once noted
by the observant natives, had the desired effect, They guessed
what our intentions were, and presently a shot, followed by
shouting, was heard from the forest. The natives wanted peace,
and begged for an interview. Kimemeta, though suffering
dreadfully, stepped forward at once, and, accompanied by two
Askari only, went to the edge of the wood, hoping, by the
smallness of his following, to reassure the natives. It was
some time, however, before anyone dared approach, and not
until Kimemeta had declared that a mere shauri was all we
wanted did we see the dusky forms cautiously advancing,
sheltering themselves as they did so behind tree after tree, and
finally emerging trembling on the clearing, with bunches of
leaves in their hands.

In about an hour and a half Kimemeta came back to the
camp, accompanied by two native representatives, who wished
in the name of the community to express their regret for the
melancholy occurrence. They explained that it had not been
the Wameru who had treated our men so badly, but some
Wakwafi warriors, who were drunk at the time, from Arusha-
wa-ju, on the south of Mount Meru. They assured us that
they did not know before that our men had lost their weapons,
and promised to do their very utmost to get them back. Their

140 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

representations seemed satisfactory to Count Teleki; and he
was the more glad to avoid an open rupture as there was no
telling how things might have gone, and if we had been worsted
all further exploration of Mount Meru would have had to be
given up.

The two envoys were dismissed with presents, and told to
bring the weapons back as soon as possible; also to arrange
for a good market for our men. They went off perceptibly
relieved, and some fifty or sixty armed natives who had
watched the whole interview from the forest, ready for any
emergency, also withdrew. So all had ended amicably after all.

In the afternoon a crowd of armed natives from Arusha-
wa-ju suddenly appeared in camp, bringing with them as
presents a lttle maize and pombe, with a few bananas. ‘They
were full of protestations of their good intentions, but they
were all tipsy, and behaved in such a shameless manner that we
were glad enough when they took themselves off. It rained all
night and the next morning, so that our small camping-place
became a regular pool. Some natives, true Wameru this time,
appeared in the afternoon, bringing for sale maize, two kinds
of beans, ripe and unripe, fresh and dried bananas, eleusine
meal, tobacco, and honey. The first comers approached very
timidly and cautiously, looking back again and again to assure
themselves that their comrades in the forest had not slipped off,
leaving them in the lurch; but as their numbers increased they
gained confidence, and before long we were nearly crowded out
of our own quarters. As some forty or fifty warriors remained
in the forest, evidently on their guard, we thought caution
was necessary in dealing with our guests, so, seizing our
owh weapons, we quietly gave the men orders to have theirs
in readiness. When the natives saw us prepared to fire if
need were, they unwillingly withdrew. The warriors, who had
all the time remained quietly waiting, now asked to speak to

PEACE IS RESTORED Tan

Jumbe Kimemeta. They had brought the lost weapons with
them, but it was an hour and a half at least before they were
actually handed over. Speech after speech was made about
them, first by the natives, then by Kimemeta, the former trying
to prove themselves quite innocent and to throwall the blame on
their neighbours from Arusha. After this they came into camp

MOUNT MERU.

to receive their present, which consisted of seven doti! meri-
kani, four strings of murtinarok beads, twenty rings of brass
wire, twenty chain rings (mikufu), twenty strings of mboro
beads, and a few charges of powder.

Our present was by no means a small one, but, as already
explained, we wished to show we could be generous and to
make a good impression, so as to be able to carry on our

11 dott=2 schuka; 1 schuka=4 mikono. 1 mikono=a length measured
under the arm from the elbow to the tips of the fingers.

142 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

explorations. Our gifts gave great delight, and this was in-
creased later when we showed off our skill in shooting, and
produced some matches, which we struck on the lids of the
boxes or on the blades of our visitors’ spears.

The next day it poured as usual, but the natives came into
camp early bringing food, and a little later came the Meru
chief, Matunda, with a large following. He differed but little
in appearance from the other Wameru, but he had a pleasing,
thoughtful, and reserved expression of face. Matunda bore
us company for several hours, but all the talk was about the
amount of the present he was to receive. He himself did not
seem to be covetous, but, as in the case of Sedenga, his people
kept urging him to ask for more and more. At last all his
requests were granted, and he was profuse in his promises of
friendship. We might do just as we pleased on the mountain—
hunt as many elephants as we liked, climb to the top of Meru,
&c.—but we had better camp nearer him, so that he could more
easily meet our wishes. Count Teleki promised to avail him-
self of his kind invitation the following afternoon, and Matunda
returned home, leaving two of his men behind to act as guides.

We decided to take very little with us, and our preparations
were very soon made. Thirty men were to accompany us, the
Somal guard, who were still suffering from dysentery, and
Jumbe Kimemeta, being left behind in charge of the rest of the
caravan. We took nothing with us for bartering, as we only
meant to be away two or three days, and our men were
provided for for that time.

We started at half-past one in the afternoon, crossed the
brook near the camp, and skirted along the primeval forest,
which the Wameru, like the Wataveta, leave untouched as a
protection to their settlements. Through dense vegetation, in-
cluding many fine ferns, we slowly climbed the slope for about
an hour, when we were suddenly intercepted by some fifteen or

A USEFUL TURBAN 143

twenty armed natives. What they wanted with us we could not
very well make out, as our interpreter, Mhoke, understood but
little Kijagea, as the language spoken on Mounts Kilimanjaro
and Meru is called. One thing, however, their cries and gesticu-
lations made clear enough—-they did not wish us to proceed.
Count Teleki lost patience, shoved aside the boldest of them, and
marched on. Soon after we were stopped again, and then the
position suddenly became clear to us: we were nearing the
settlement, and ought to give the leibon, or medicine-man, a pre-
sent, lest our visit should bring ill luck. As we had brought no
goods with us, one of our men had to sacrifice his turban, which
consisted of a schuka of merikani. But even this did not con-
tent the natives; the stuff ought to have been frayed out on both
sides and decked with red trimming. In fact they wanted a
naibere such as has been already described. They soon saw,
however, that our patience was becoming exhausted, and no
longer opposed our approach. A felled tree, through the
branches of which we had to creep like snakes, and a strong
door resembling that at Taveta, formed the entrance of the clear-
ing. One by one we crept through, and stepped across the piece
of merikani which was spread out on the path, finding our-
selves in the presence of the leibon, who anointed us each
on forehead and neck with honey before we were allowed to
go farther.

We now reached a clearing from which we had a fairly
extensive view over a beautifully cultivated country. Planta-
tions, chiefly of bananas, covered the slopes of the mountain in
every direction, and the fresh green of every variety of shade
was most refreshing to the eyes. Delighted, we hastened on
through the smiling landscape, and were soon passing through
groves of bananas, where it was almost dark, over soft sward
and sweet-smelling clover, past fieldsof maize, or wading through
the icy cold and crystal-clear water of gurgling brooks.

144 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

We were escorted by natives all the way, but whither they
were leading us we neither knew nor asked. At five o'clock
we camped for the night on a sloping meadow at the edge of a
foaming torrent, and we were hardly under shelter before the
rain poured down again; its one advantage being that it relieved
us of the importunate natives.

We were now 4,850 feet above the sea, and the continuous
rain made it quite cold. When we woke the next morning it
was still pouring, and the landscape was shrouded in a heavy,
oppressive mist. Not until nearly nine o’clogk did it clear
enough for us to go on. We first crossed the bed of the torrent,
and then bore westward, without climbing, between banana-
hedges and across meadows. This brought us to a second
rushing stream, to which a steep, slippery path led up. There
natives again tried to bar our passage. On the other side of
the stream the path lay between rocks, and some forty or fifty
warriors blocked the way, shouting out to us to come no farther.
There was no doubt that they could not have chosen a better
spot for stopping us. Their leader stood in the midst of them,
holding forth and gesticulating wildly, often pointing at us with
his finely decorated wooden club; and his men listened to him
eagerly, casting threatening glances at us every now and then.

The first speaker was succeeded by another and yet another.
Then the three orators sprang like chamois from rock to rock
across the stream to us, called for our interpreter, and to him
unfolded their demand. ‘They must have five doti merikani
and five strings of ukuta beads. Mhoke, who had taken
service with us as a porter only, but had soon been promoted
to be an Askar, was generally brave enough, but on this
occasion he quite lost his nerve, and, as he kept biting a blade
of grass in his embarrassment, he cried again and again in a
tone of conviction, ‘Matta kitu, Matta kitu ’ (‘We have nothing’).
‘Then back!’ was the uncompromising reply of the leader.

— ==
———

——_S
————
— ——

j

BROOK.

SHAURI BY THE

WAR

WE SUSPECT A’ TRAP 147

Presently Mhoke found that one of our porters had a schuka of
white stuff, and offered it to the warrior, who, however, scorn-
fully declined it. We now thought it time to interfere. Count
Teleki asked, in commanding tones, if the schuka was or was
not enough, at the same time significantly tapping his loaded
weapon. This sufficed ; way was made for us, and we passed on.

Another three-quarters of an hour’s march brought us to a
meadow where the natives said we could camp near an over-
srown ravine some 100 to 130 feet deep, forming the bed of the
mountain-torrent Magsuru, the rushing noise of which reached
us. As far as we could tell, the district about us was almost
entirely covered with banana-plantations, amongst which we
could make out from twenty to thirty isolated huts, looking
very picturesque nestling against the slopes. It was a charming
spot, but it would not do to be too much delighted with it till
we knew the meaning of what was going on not very far off.

Our attention was soon called to the fact that armed men
were collecting in numbers, and that there were no women or
children to be seen. Soon an eager shauri of warriors was
being held quite close to us. What could they be plotting
now? Caution was evidently advisable, so we only pretended
to go on with our camping. Our tent was put up, but the
bales were not unloaded, the whispered order went round to
have the weapons ready, and we waited further events in
watchful suspense.

Fresh warriors kept arriving in haste from every side, till
there were some 250, each with shield and spear and club, few,
however, with guns, assembled close tous. We began to think,
especially when we saw the Meru chief addressing the men
again and again, that we had fallen into a trap. Our position
was serious enough. On one side a deep ravine, on the other
250 armed men, their spears and shields, painted white, red,
and black in Masai fashion, gleaming in the light of the sun,

LZ

148 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

which just then broke through the clouds. Every now and
then, too, one of their guns went off, as if by accident. We
had little doubt that they would all presently spring upon us,
and we anxiously awaited their onslaught, with revolvers and
euns in readiness to fire. After a long pause Matunda, accom-
panied by several old men, slowly approached, and informed us
that the warriors demanded fifteen doti merikani and fifteen
bundles of mikufu as hongo. Count Teleki explained that we
had not brought any articles of barter with us, that we had
already paid our tribute, and this was the first time natives had
asked for hongo a second time. Moreover, he added, he was
astonished, after the pressing invitation he had received, at
meeting with such a hostile reception; as Matunda could see,
however, we were prepared for all emergencies, and he could
tell the warriors so. Matunda assured us that he had no influence
over them, and we could easily see how repugnant the whole
thing was to him. He said he was pretty sure the men would
stick to their demands, but he would see what he could do.

I will not weary the reader with a detailed account of the
further negotiations, which lasted from half-past ten till one
o'clock ; suffice it to say that the natives reduced their demands
to five doti of stuff and five bundles of mikufu. Of course we
had not them with us either, but Count Teleki promised to
send for them, and peace was restored. Directly afterwards
Matunda presented us with a goat, and we became good friends
with the Wameru, especially after we had shown off our shoot-
ing powers, for all natives delight in watching firmg. The
first loan we had negotiated in Africa had, after all, been so
successful that we tried to carry through another the next day,
and actually got an ox for our men on credit. But the cere-
monies connected with the affair took such a time that it was
our last attempt of the kind. Though the ox belonged to one
person only, the whole population must share in the proceed-

NATIVE MODE OF RECKONING 149

ings, so that there were plenty of witnesses. It was interesting
to note the way in which the natives reckoned up the amount
to be paid. For this purpose empty ears of maize were
used. One kind represented stuffs, such as cloth or merikani,
another so much wire, and so on. The ears were carefully
sorted, and the various piles stood for the number of dotis of
stuff, senenjes, mikufus, and strings of beads. At least a
hundred times did the natives name the price, that there might
be absolutely no mistake about it, and then at last the
happy seller packed up the ears of maize and walked off with
them. The next day, when payment was made, he demanded
double, but we stuck to the original amount.

The weather continued so bad that we had to give up all
idea of getting to the top of Mount Meru, but we determined
to go as far as possible after all the difficulties we had sur-
mounted by the way. But for this it was absolutely necessary
to have articles of barter, so we should have to get them from
the camp. It will be remembered that our chief aim in this
journey to Mount Meru was to buy pack-animals at Arusha-
wa-ju. We were now but one day’s journey from the Wakwafi
settlement, on the south of the mountain, so that it really seemed
best to get the whole caravan together again here. But there
were difficulties in the way. Jumbe Kimemeta had somehow
got wrong in his reckoning, and we had not brought nearly
enough articles for barter and presents with us from Taveta,
so that, bearing in mind the covetousness of the natives with
whom we should have to deal, we ran a risk of failing in our
object. We talked the matter over in the evening, when the
natives had left us, with the result that it was decided for me
to return to the camp below and consult Kimemeta. If he
thought we could manage with what we had at the camp, I was
to bring the whole caravan back with me, but if not, only what
was necessary to pay our debts.

150 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

At half-past ten the next morning—the rain prevented my
starting earlier—lI was off down the mountain, accompanied by
fourteen men. I soon out-distanced my comrades, and reached
the camp in two hours and a half, where my sudden appearance
alone and covered with mud roused the greatest apprehension,
till my joyful ‘ Yambo!’ relieved all anxiety.

I soon enough found that we could not possibly go to
Arusha-wa-ju—where a very large hongo would have to be
paid—with what we had with us, so there was nothing for it
but for me to collect what was actually needed on the
mountain and return at once. I could not, however, get off
before half-past three.

We had no further trouble with Meru ceremonies, but the
people of the settlement had to make an opening to let in the
cattle I brought with me. At the door I met Mhoke, with a
letter for me from Count Teleki, telling me to be sure and bring
some rockets with me. Of course the Count could not know
whether I should or should not be bringing the whole caravan
with me. This letter, which rather took me. aback, also begged
me to return as quickly as possible, as there was danger ahead.
Of course I urged all possible speed on the men now, but the
pouring rain made the loamy path so slippery that the heavily
laden porters could only get on slowly, and, moreover, it soon
became so dark that each man could barely see the one in front
of him. So it was eight o’clock before we reached the camp,
where, however, I was thankful to find all well.

The natives really had tried to turn my absence to account
by exacting a large tribute from Count Teleki, but this after-
thought was merely the result of Mhoke’s nervousness. Soon
after Lleft, Matunda had come, with his wife, to pay the Count a
visit. This wife really was a beautiful creature, with regular
features and sparkling eyes; she was a very decided coquette,
which, by the way, is a rare thing with native women. Teleki

FRESH DEMANDS FOR HONGO 15%

gave his visitors a hearty welcome and amused them consider-

ably. Just as they were leaving came the request for some of

the mighty dana, or medicine, of which they had heard from
our people. This medicine meant rockets,’ and the Count
promised to send Mhoke to fetch some. The pouring rain had
thus far kept the natives away from the camp, but in the after-
noon they came in crowds, warriors being in the majority.
Some 200 armed men had also taken up their position close to
us, whilst another hundred or so were divided from them by a
banana-hedge. Their bearing showed that there was something
unpleasant in the wind, so Count Teleki ordered his handful of
men—he had now only fourteen with him—to have their
weapons ready. After a long, excited shauri, the leader of
the larger body of warriors came to the Count and demanded
a considerable hongo. Of course, as Teleki had nothing with
him he could only refuse this request. Another noisy shauri
ensued, and then back came the ultimatum: ‘ We are tired of
promises ; either give us our tribute or be off.’ There was no
doubt they were in earnest this time, so, to gain time, Teleki
temporised, saying he must first speak to the chief. It now
turned out that these warriors did not belong to Mount Meru,
but came from Arusha-wa-ju, for they replied, ‘Sultan Matunda
has nothing to do with the matter; we are masters here.’

As it seemed hopeless either to satisfy or drive off the
warriors, and it would be easier to fight in the broken ground
through which we had passed than in the open, Count Teleki
now replied that it was impossible for him to give a hongo, so
he would leave at once. He then ordered his men to pack up,
but to keep their weapons handy. This very unexpected
answer brought about an immediate change of front in the

1 The rockets so often referred to are found most useful by travellers in Africa,
as the natives associate them with magic. The letting-off of a few rockets at night
is a greater protection to a camp than anything else.—TRaNs.

152 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

native camp. The warriors had never dreamt of being taken
at their word in such a manner, and now entreated the Count
to remain, as they did not know what would happen at Arusha-
wa-ju when it was found that they had driven the visitors
away. The Count relented, and of his own free will promised
them a present when his goods arrived. So peace was once
more restored.

As already stated, we had to give up our visit to Arusha on
account of running short of goods. We regretted this the less
as we were able to buy pack-animals on Mount Meru, the Wa-
meru selling us some, whilst the people of Arusha brought us
others. This led to our remaining longer than we had intended
on Mount Meru, and we spent the whole of the first week in
May there. We were, of course, much stronger now we were
all together, but still we regretted the delay, as the natives
were always trying to pick a quarrel with us, the Wakwafi
putting the Wameru up to fresh aggressions and extortions.
We had, however, only to show our teeth to bring them to
reason, but it was a disagreeable state of things. We had
often been told by traders that there are but two evil-disposed
tribes in east equatorial Africa: the Wakikuyu and the Wa-
kwafi of Arusha-wa-ju, or Great Arusha; and we had every
reason to endorse their opinion with regard to the latter.
The character of the Wameru themselves is, however, any-
thing but perfect. They are Wajagga, and, like all mountain-
eers, active, brave, and independent. Hitherto they had had
to deal with ivory-traders or slave-dealers only, and they tried
to overawe us, as they did them, with threats. We now had
experiences very similar to those of Baron von der Decken on
Kilimanjaro twenty-five years previously. The Wameru, or
dwellers on Mount Meru, number some 1,000, and are an inde-
pendent community, having, however, certain relations with the
Wakwafi of Arusha-wa-ju. Their settlements are at a height

ACCOUNT OF THE WAMERU 143

of from about 3,500 to 5,500 feet, on the southern slopes of the
mountain. The beds of the streams on Mount Meru are much
deeper than those on Kilimanjaro, and the surrounding scenery
is perhaps, therefore, not quite so picturesque; but the soil
is evidently more fertile, for nowhere else did we see such
luxuriant and fruitful banana-plantations. The banana is the
chief food here, but maize, beans, eleusine, with a few pota-
toes, are cultivated, and a variety of tobacco with pink
flowers is grown. The Wameru also breed cattle, sheep, and
goats, and thelr numerous bees yield better honey than we
tasted anywhere else in Kast Africa.

The Wameru live in scattered huts, mostly made of straw
and of the shape of a hayrick; but some few are exactly like
those of the Masai, except that they are bigger, and instead of
being covered in with earth and cow-dung, are finished off with
banana-leaves, which have a whitish sheen. Of course the
Wameru have. affinities with the Masai, their constant inter-
course with the people of Arusha-wa-ju would ensure that ;
and many of their manners and customs resemble those of their
neighbours. Moreover, a good many Masai idioms have become
incorporated with Kijagea.

Matunda, chief of the Wameru, enjoys very little real
power. He has to consult the wishes of the soldiery, especially
of the Arusha warriors, at every turn. We saw little of him,
and could never get access to him when quarrels were in the
wind. We often invited him, but he always made the excuse
that he was tipsy, a fact he confessed without the slightest
shame.

There were, however, always plenty of men, women, and
children in our camp, although the rain scarcely ever ceased.
From early morning to sunset we were almost crowded out by
natives, and the immediate neighbourhood of. our settlement
was never free from them. Our people had to barter for their

154 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

food, and we wanted donkeys. We were also anxious to buy
some ethnographical curiosities; and the natives had not the
slightest idea of the value of time. Nothing in Africa tried
our patience and mettle more than this bartering with the
natives; and it was worse here than anywhere else. It was
not as if we were dealing with absolutely savage tribes; and
it was really surprising what cunning quite young children
could display. A few examples will suffice. Jumbe Kime-
meta, experienced old trader though he was, could only get one
donkey. Four times the price was fixed; four times the owner
of the beast wanted to back out of his bargain. You may be
pretty sure that in nine cases out of ten the natives will bring
back the beads, or whatever the purchase-money is, at least five
times, the hours spent in negotiations being thus absolutely
wasted. And every transaction is watched by a crowd of
spectators, drawn together by curiosity or a desire to show off
their cleverness, so that, even if the buyer or seller is satisfied,
his friends are not. One does not like the colour of the stuff,
another thinks the price too low, and so on, ad infinitum.

Amongst the natives there are generally some few who make
it their special business to look after bartering, and traders try
to bribe them with a small present to vote on their side. The
usual result is, however, that bargains are at first apparently
concluded, only for the natives to begin their backing-out again
soon after, and the agent who took the bribe is nowhere to be
found. We wasted no end of stuffs, gunpowder, wire, &c., in
this way, not to speak of time and patience, gaining in the end
absolutely nothing by all our perseverance.

The bad weather prevented our going far from camp, and
it was not until the last day of our stay with the Wameru that
the heavy clouds hiding the mountain cleared off and we were
able, though still only with the aid of glasses, to make out the
upper slopes and peak. We recognised the pyramidal form

AMONG THE WAMERU.

LAKE BALBAL 157

of the extinct volcano, the west-north-west and east-south-west
sides of which had been torn asunder in some terrible out-
break, destroying the circular form of the cone, one side, the
south-west being 14,640 feet high, whilst the northern is but
12,100 feet. As with Kilimanjaro, it 1s only from the south
side of Mount Meru that any streams flow, so that the northern
side is uninhabited.

There are a good many elephants on Mount Meru, and as
their appearance always created great excitement in the native
settlements, we were sure to be told of it ; but we only saw one,
and that was amongst grass as high asa man. We could hear
the animal moving about close to us well enough, but we could
only see him by climbing trees, and after a long, fruitless chase
we had to give him up. The natives with us displayed great
skill in following the game, but they spoilt it all by the
cowardice with which they rushed to trees on the slightest
danger. On this hunting expedition we came upon a pretty little
triangular crater lake, called by the natives Balbal, two sides
being about 2,600 feet long and the third about 1,600 feet only.
The short side of the triangle has a low-lying sandy shore, whilst
the perpendicular banks of the other portions are from 30 to
100 feet high, and are clothed with luxuriant green vegetation.
There is no apparent outlet or inlet to this lake; the water is
clear, transparent, of a deep blue colour, and, even near the level
portion of the shore, of great depth. The surface was covered
with countless water-lilies, and numerous water-birds haunted
its shores, chiefly of the duck family. The sides of the cone-
shaped hill overlooking Lake Balbal, which has a general but
gentle inclination southwards, are clothed with short steppe
orTass.

During our stay on the mountain the people of Arusha-wa-
ju often honoured us with a visit, and their leibon himself
came several times. He remembered the German traveller,

158 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

Dr. Gustav Fischer, very well, told us a lot about him, and
declared he had been his best friend. Although this medicine-
man claimed to be asultan, and a very great sultan too, we were
anything but enamoured of his gallows face, and placed very
little confidence in him. An ox he gave us was such a mere
skeleton that a leopard, which paid us a visit the next night,
despised it as a meal, and only bit off its tail!

On the morning of May 7 we left Mount Meru to return to
Taveta by way of Little Arusha and Kahe. We had added ten
erey asses to our caravan, but we had left behind our Muscat
donkey, Msungu, so-called on account of its silver-grey hair.
The poor creature had been bitten some twenty hours previously
by a kind of fly; its mouth became swollen, it breathed with
creat difficulty, and was evidently in considerable pain. We
were very sorry to lose it, and knew we should greatly miss it
later.

We meant to start quite early, to avoid the natives, but we
were delayed a little by the unfortunate illness of one of our
men, who was struck down by fever. We left him under the
care of a native whose appearance inspired respect and
confidence, of course paying in advance for his keep, and
arranging for him to follow us later.

Our course was for a time along the Magsuru river; then
we crossed it, and, passing close to the east of Lake Balbal,
pressed on for the Akati river, rising on Mount Meru, which
later, in receiving the Magsuru, absorbs all the mountain
streams, and flows into the Dariama. The sky was clear, and
after being in the cool mountain regions so long we felt the
unwonted heat of the sun on the barren treeless steppes
terribly. We camped on the Akati, and later in the afternoon
we enjoyed a beautiful sight. Close by, on our left, the dark,
almost black pyramid of Meru rose up from the golden steppe,
whilst beyond, in majestic dignity, towered Kilimanjaro, its

MASAI SPIES 159

many-hued slopes, contrasting with its snow-clad peak, gleam-
ing in the beams of the setting sun. Fresh snow covered the
whole saddle, and extended apparently to the upper portion of
the primeval forest. We now for the first time made out the
third peak of Kilimanjaro, which, being considerably lower than
the other two, rarely emerges from the masses of clouds in
which the summits are generally hidden.

LAKE BALBAL.

On the 8th we marched farther along the Akati, nearly as
far as its junction with the Magsuru, on the left bank of which,
beneath a few venerable sycamores, we camped for the night.

On these two marches we only met a few Masai sent out
as spies to patrol the border districts between Masailand and
Arusha-wa-ju. We should not come upon these dreaded
people in numbers till we reached the Dariama, and considering
that we had exhausted our goods for barter, &c., we were

160 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU -

anything but anxious for a meeting. To avoid them we de-
termined to make a double march the next day, which would
enable us to pass beyond the territory occupied by them.

We started earler than usual, and plodded on as rapidly as
possible in the direction of the distant fringe of vegetation
marking the course of the Dariama, which probably rises, under
the name of the Shamburay, on the south-west side of Mount
Meru, becoming the Dariama in its middle easterly course,
whilst farther on it is known as the Ronga. The Shamburay-
Ronga receives all the streams flowing south from Mount Meru,
and takes them to the Ruvu, or Pangani, which thus drains
the whole of the Meru and Kilimanjaro basins.

After a march of four hours we reached the Dariama.
The river here was more than 19 yards across, and 5 or 6
feet deep, with a considerable volume of thick, muddy-looking
water. <A tree flung across enabled us to make a rapid though
rather difficult transit, and we camped on the other side for a -
long mid-day rest in a thicket encumbered with parasitical
growths, some of them as thick as a man’s arm.

At half-past one we started again, and skirting along the
base of the flat-topped Chachame mountains, at a distance of
from about 550 to 1,100 yards from the thicket, we reached the
trading station of Mikinduni at sunset. The landscape struck us
as peculiarly deserted and unfriendly-looking. The mountain
shapes were unlike any we had so far seen, the flora was more
varied, and we noted many new varieties. We were at first
surprised, but we soon saw that everything was accounted for
by the difference in the geological formation we were now
traversing ; we had left the volcanic district behind, and were
amongst metamorphic rocks. White limestone, now in loose
masses, now in compact rocks, was of frequent occurrence, still,
however, alternating with lava, and in the distant mountains we
could see ravines with sides gleaming like snow-white marble.

KIJUMA SHAMS ILLNESS TGE

There were numbers of wild animals, chiefly antelopes,
here; but as we had along march before us, we had to re-
strain our hunting propensities, and Count Teleki only shot
one gnu. We also saw a great many of the peculiar hornbills
the Count had noticed before on his march to Masinde. They
congregated in the long grass in twos and threes, and flew
heavily. Unwillingly I shot one to examine it more closely,
and found its feathers were scanty, with large bare patches of
skin.

Mikinduni is situated in a sharp northerly bend of the
river, at the foot of the insignificant mountain range of the
same name, flanking the Sogonoy chain on the north. Our next
march was between these two mountain masses, so that for a
time we lost sight of the river. At first the path was very
steep, but then it sunk again. Though the ground was
stony and sandy, there was luxuriant vegetation, just now
in full bloom; baobabs and acacias were the chief trees.
In the whole march we only came to one pool, and the dull
ereen water of that was quite unfit to drink. It was fear-
fully hot, and the dazzling sunbeams were reflected from the
gleaming white ground. Under the circumstances, it was no
wonder that it should have occurred to Kijuma wadi Muynuru,
one of our Swahili porters, that he would throw aside his
load and by a clever manceuvre get off any further travelling
through this torrid district. It was just the hottest part of
the day when I found him rolling on the ground, kicking out
with hands and feet as if in the agonies of death. ‘Kijuma!’
I cried, ‘ what in the world is the matter?’ ‘Oh, master!’
was his reply in broken accents, ‘I am dying!’ Then he
rolled over again, his convulsions became weaker, and he
lay quite still. Quite taken in, and not knowing what to do for
the poor fellow, I stood looking at him pityinely, whilst his
comrades gathered round, and gazed upon him in dismay.

VOL. I M

162 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

But presently my suspicions were aroused; I suddenly remem-
bered certain tales about the symptoms attending the possession
by evil spirits, guessed the man was simulating this, and called
to Kharscho, one of my Askari, to bring a whip with which
to exorcise the demons. ‘The effect was immediate: the poor
possessed-one got up, and assured us he already felt better.

We were making to-day for Malago tembo, a clearing in a
thicket on the Ronga, visited by Baron von der Decken; but as
Jumbe Kimemeta, who, though he was carried, found the march
far too long, pointed out to us, we had overshot our mark by a
long piece. We therefore turned sharp off on the right, and
forced our way through thick and thin to the river, of which
we very soon caught sight. An old buffallo bull had chosen
the very spot we were approaching as a shady retreat for a
mid-day nap. He came with rapid steps out of the thicket, and
stood right in front of the whole caravan. Count Teleki was
but thirty paces off, and had his rifle ready; he was just about
to fire, when the buffalo lowered his head for a charge, and as
a shot might have endangered the lives of several of the men,
the Count refrained. The bull glared at us all for a bit, and
then, with an angry roar, went off.

The next morning we marched in a southerly direction, at
a distance of from 550 to 850 yards from the river, through a
district rich ingame. ‘There were many traces of others having
been here before us, and we met several Masai, who told us the
way to aford over the Ronga, where we arrived after a journey
of two hours and a half.

A glance at the map will lead to the inquiry why we went
out of our way like this when we were bound for Little Arusha.
We had a boat with us, and might have crossed the Ronga
wherever we liked. Our guides had not, of course, thought
of that when they told us the way, and having no means of
taking our bearings, we did as they suggested.

OUR DONKEYS NEARLY DROWNED 6s

The river was some 33 yards wide at the ford, from 7 to
8 feet deep in the middle, and the current was pretty strong,
so we had to use the boat for the transit. We established a
temporary ferry quickly enough, our movements hastened by a
downpour of rain. Most of the men and all the loads were
soon on the other side, and then came the cattle and donkeys.
Led by an old cow, who, as she had been with us ever since we
left Masinde, was used to the ups and downs of travel, the
former behaved well enough, plunged into the water, bravely
battled with the current, and landed cleverly on the other side.
Not so the grey donkeys. Of course their saddles had been
taken off some time before, and they had been allowed to graze
by the river-side. Now they were surrounded by our men, and
driven to the ford with horrible cries and resounding blows.
With their heads well above water they swam to the middle of
the river, but there they relaxed their efforts and allowed them-
selves to be swept down by the current. We were eagerly
watching them, and rushed off to try and save them. Wenow
discovered that we were really ourselves on an island only, and
not on the farther bank. We had water all around us, and
could not get at the animals, who, however, after tumbling
about for some time in the network of channels and backwaters,
were stranded in a state of exhaustion in a shallow part of the
river with perpendicular banks, overhung with masses of vege-
tation. It was some time before we could take our bearings,
but when we knew where we were we set to vigorously at
the work of rescue, hewing our way to the edge of the water,
uprooting bushes, &c., and succeeded at last, after six hours’
toil, in getting all the animals on to dry land again.

We had now crossed the main stream, but we had still two
tributaries to ford. The first was only some four and a half
yards across, but deep and rapid, and with steep, crumbling
sides. A tree-trunk formed a rough bridge, over which the

M 2

164 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

men crossed easily enough ; but we had a lot more bother with
the animals. ‘The middle of the bridge was under the water,
which broke over it in foam hke a mill-stream. Two of the
oxen slipped off, and the force of the current driving them
against the tree-trunk, they were nearly drowned. We had to
force them farther up stream, and then the current swept them
under the bridge, below which they came to the surface again
and battled with their fast-failing strength against the stream.
One of them managed to reach the bank at last, but we saw the

GETTING THE DONKEYS OVER THE RONGA.

other dragged under water by a crocodile a little lower down.
Not to risk the donkeys further, we tugged them across this
stretch of river, as well as the two backwaters, with ropes. They
went right under water in transit, and were landed in an almost
insensible condition, but there was no help for it.

It was not until half-past eight that the last donkey was
safely over. Then, hungry and tired, we and the few men who
had remained to help us followed the main body of the caravan,
already far on its way to Little Arusha. Our old guide, Manwa
Sera, had behaved with such pluck and dexterity in the emer-

TRADERS FROM LEIKIPIA 165

gency that he had wiped out a long score we had against him.
The poor grey donkeys were so exhausted after their three
water trips that they stood motionless on the bank, and we had
to push and drag them on, one by one, before they would stir
on their own account. An hour’s splash through the gathering
darkness, across a steppe covered with from four to eight inches
of water, brought this long day’s work to an end at Little
Arusha.

Our tent was pitched in the midst of the camp of a trading
caravan some 170 strong, as it was the only dry place to be had.
These traders had come. from Leikipia, and had already been
waiting here two months for another caravan, which had gone to
Ngaboto, a district on the north of Lake Barmgo. They had
collected a lot of ivory, and, as they expressed it, done a bias-
chera ku, or good business. They had buried their treasures
to protect them from fire. The leaders, with Mpujui, the best
speaker of the Masai language and a great friend of Jumbe
Kimemeta, at their head, had come to meet Count Teleki on
his arrival, and presented him with some beautiful white maize
meal as a token of welcome.

Little Arusha, or Arusha-wa-Chini, is a settlement of Wa-
kwafi not unlike the Wataveta in their mode of life. Sur-
rounded as they are by watercourses, they can to a great
extent dispense with the protection of the forest, but neither 1s
that altogether wanting. Sometimes Taveta and sometimes
Little Arusha, according to the direction of the journey, 1s
appointed as the rendezvous of caravans going from or to the
coast. There are four routes to Masailand from the sea. The
first and most easterly leads through Ukambani to Ngongo
Bagas ; the second skirts along the eastern base of Kilimanjaro
in a northerly direction ; the third passes between Mounts Meru
and Kilimanjaro; and the fourth goes, by way of Arusha-wa-ju,
northward, west of them. The big hongo exacted by the

166 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

covetous natives of Arusha-wa-ju leads caravans to avoid it,
except when on their way back to the coast. The tribute ex-
acted is very small on the return journey, as ivory 1s about all
the traders have with them then. They generally pay their
way back with the weapons they no longer need, so that the
natives are very well
provided with arms.
There are generally
in all these caravans

a certain number
of what are called
tadschiris, or Tiel
fellows; but they
really are poor devils
enough, for there is
not much profit to
be got out of ivory
by anyone but the
Hindu creditors, who
are quietly waiting
at the coast for their
spoil. To lessen the
inevitable risk at-
tending expeditions

to the interior tor

ivory, companies are
formed, the various

NATIVE OF LITTLE ARUSHA. . oe
traders dividing the

results of each trip, and waiting for each other for this purpose
at Taveta or Little Arusha. Of course, it would be very much
simpler to sell the ivory on the coast and divide the money ;
but this is never done, the creditors always insisting on payment
in ivory. On their return journey the people of the various

DEATH OF SIM, THE DONKEY 167

caravans make up all kinds of grotesque costumes, in which
they disport themselves when they get home, imitating the
dances and songs they have learnt from the natives. <A per-
formance of this kind was given in our honour, and, of course,
we had to pay for the treat with a considerable baksheesh.

After the play the traders brought a man to us who had
been mauled by a crocodile in crossing over the Ronga several
weeks ago. The poor fellow’s arm was in a dreadful condition,
as the wound had not been properly seen to. Count Teleki did
the best he could, cutting away the hanging flesh, &c., but he
told his patient he had little hope of his ever being able to
use his arm again. However, we heard later that he quite
recovered power in his arm.

On May 13th we started again, and an hour’s march
brought us to the Mayleja, a tributary of the Ronga, which flows
past Von der Decken’s camp of Malago tembo, and forms the
northern boundary of Little Arusha. The road led amongst
the native plantations, chiefly of potatoes and maize, with
bananas only near the river. We crossed the water where
piles of wood had been placed, forming an incomplete bridge.
We filled up the worst gaps ourselves, and passed over almost
dry-shod. The river was about twenty-one yards wide at the
ford, but shallow, and with only a slow current. The crossing
was effected in an hour and a half, and we camped on the other
side in dense bush. Here, alas! we lost our third and last
riding donkey, named Sim, or Lightning, which died, as had the
others, after a few hours’ suffering only, from the bite of a fly.

Six hours’ march the next day, for the two first hours along-
side of a thicket of bush rendered swampy by the late heavy
rains, and for the remaining four across a barren sandy steppe,
brought us to the forest of Kahe, which we found, to our relief,
not nearly so dense as that at Taveta. It was haunted by
numerous monkeys of the species known as the Colobus quereza,

168 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

the peculiarities of which have already been described. We
shot seven of them.

Leaving the forest, we came to the lower course of the
Kirerema, here about thirty feet wide and six deep. A
slippery trunk was the only bridge, and the men were able to
cross comfortably with care, but the steep, crumbling banks
made it very difficult to get the animals over. We now met a
geood many natives, who reproached us for our treatment of the
monkeys. However, seeing that we took no notice of their re-
marks, they dropped the subject and soon became friends with
us. The Colobus guereza, rare everywhere but in the Kahe
forest, is much prized by the Masai and the other natives of
the Kihmanjaro districts, as its skin is used in their war
paraphernalia.

The natives here brought us gifts, the finest bananas I had
ever seen, and led us to a camping-place, more beautiful
even than any in Taveta, in a meadow bounded by the wood,
from which we had an uninterrupted view of Kilimanjaro.
We lhked our quarters so much that we- remained in them
another day. The natives were neither importunate in their
attentions, nor did they beg. They brought bananas, beans,
maize, potatoes, choroco, and beautifully clear honey for sale.
There were also plenty of goats but they were very dear.
Our merikani was most in demand, but our hosts were will-
ing to accept powder, thick iron wire (Sambai), and small
Jagga beads; they did not, however, care for the pretty mboro
and ukuta beads. The people of Kahe belong to the same family
as the Wataveta, and resemble them in appearance, customs,
&c.; they also speak the same Bantu dialect.

In the afternoon Count Teleki went to hunt monkeys, and
brought back five more skins, so that we now had a dozen, which
had to be most carefully prepared to preserve them uninjured.

We should have been very sorry to leave Kahe if the

WE RETURN TO TAVETA 169

weather had been fine enough to allow us to enjoy the view;
but it rained constantly, not in a steady downpour, as before,
but in heavy showers—a sure sign that the rainy season was
nearly over.

There were plenty of banana plantations but no huts im the
immediate vicinity of our camp, and it was not until the next
day that we passed the inhabited portion of Kahe, which is a
long narrow strip on the right bank of the Mwaleni river.
We should very soon have left it behind us but for the difficulty
of getting the animals over the water. We even had to drag
across the cattle, generally such clever swimmers, with the help
of ropes. The vegetation peculiar to the Kilimanjaro district is
exchanged on the other side of this river for doum palms, and
not until the Himo is reached do the acacias, baobabs, and other
trees characteristic of that neighbourhood again occur. The
Himo where we crossed it was more than 16 yards wide and
3 feet deep, but it was bridged over by a colossal trunk, and
the transit was effected without any difliculty.

The next day, May 17, our circuit of Kilimanjaro and Meru
was to come to an end, at which we all rejoiced, as travelling
in the rain was anything but pleasant. However, the morning
broke clear and bright, the cloudless blue sky looking as if
rain were a thing unknown, and but for our wet clothes we
might really have doubted it ourselves.

We had two routes to choose from—one through dense
forest, the other in a southerly direction along the chain of
hills, at the northern end of which we had camped after our
first march from Taveta, thirty-six days before. We chose the
latter, and wended our way, first across a flat district, then, as
we got nearer the hills, over rough, broken ground, the path
getting worse and worse. In the early part of the day Count
Teleki, who always headed the caravan, was lucky enough to
surprise a small flock of ostriches ; he brought down a hen with

170 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

the first shot, and wounded a cock, which, however, got away,
with the second. The hen was very plump, and was‘ eagerly
devoured by our men, but as it was the moulting season, the
skin was worthless.

From the low hills we had a most beautiful view. The
forest of Taveta, bathed in warm sunshine, lay before us, and
from it rose up volumes of pale blue smoke, appealing to us
so eloquently and irresistibly that the hearts of our negroes
bounded within them. Their eyes shone with joy, and with
one accord they burst into a delighted shout of ‘Taveta!
Taveta!’ as if they had come within sight of Heaven itself.
Gezilah, a coal-black half-caste Arab, was the most excited of all,
as, with uplifted hands and
trembling voice, he gave
thanks to his God in the
words, ‘ Allah akbar! La
illaila el Allah wa Muham-
med rasti] Allah.’

To ‘the sound of the
usual firing with blank
cartridges we entered Ta-
veta about two oclock.

- The reception given us
SNUFF-POUCHES OF NATIVES OF KILIMANJARO. by the men we had left
behind was touching. One by one they came, first to kiss our
hands, and then rushed to their comrades, seized their loads,
and carried them shouting into camp. We found our settle-
ment considerably enlarged and in first-rate order, Qualla
having proved himself thoroughly capable of managing every-
thing. The huts of the men, which were before in dangerous
proximity to the storehouse, had been moved back, and
stalls for the goats and poultry had been erected on the other

side, whilst in the open space in the centre of the camp

LETTERS FROM HOME iva)

the bales of stuff lay open to dry, as it had rained a great
deal in Taveta, as well as with us. Maktubu had returned to
camp the day before from his trip of some days’ duration to
Mombasa to fetch our belongings, but Schaongwe was still away.
Nothing had been forgotten or neglected; but, on the other hand,
eighteen men had run away, fourteen taking their weapons with
them. On the march to the coast Maktubu’s caravan had been
attacked by some men sent against him by a certain Mbaruk,
who was a descendant of that Mbaruk bin Achmet of the Msara
dynasty who had been deprived of his territory by Sultan
Seyid Seyid. Like his fathers before him, the present Mbaruk
waged war in every possible way upon the Sultan of Zanzibar ;
but he always got the worst of it, and, reduced to great straits,
he had now long wandered, homeless, with a few followers, in
the inaccessible fastnesses of the Hinterland of Mombasa, which
had once belonged to his family. The only way left for him to
show his spite against the ruler of Zanzibar was to fall on weak
caravans led by Arabs. He had thought he had such an one to
deal with now, but finding his mistake, he was full of contrition,
and offered to make all the amends in his power by taking care
of one of our men, Johar by name, who had been seriously
wounded in the affray, until he was quite well again.

A pleasanter surprise was the arrival of a packet of letters
from home, sent on by our Consul, Mr. Oswald. Of course every-
thing else was put aside to read them, and it was now with the
greatest impatience that we had to respond to the perpetual
‘Yambos,’ &c.

The long rainy season, known as the mussika, was now
nearly at an end. It began on April 13, and lasted till May 16,
but there had only been twenty-one days of absolutely uninter-
mittent rain. The fine days occurred at the beginning and
towards the end of this period, and were characterised by
occasional violent showers. Between-whiles the rain poured

172 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

down from the uniformly grey sky in a steady but not parti-
cularly heavy stream, and even at the worst there was generally
a break from six or seven to nine or ten o’clock in the morning.

We heard from Miriah, however, that it still rained nearly
every day in the Kilimanjaro district, and we could see that it
was snowing heavily in the higher regions by the constant
change in the position of the snow-line, which had now come
down to about the height of 10,150 feet. We should have to
wait a few weeks at least before we could carry out our
Kilimanjaro plans, but we could use the delay for our pre-
parations for the further journey. To make running away
more difficult for the men we took their weapons away from
them as soon as we got back to camp, and we gave them two
days’ holiday, which they used for building their huts. Then
work, of which there was plenty, was resumed. As already
stated, Count Teleki had left some of the goods at Mombasa and
Mawia, as he thought we should have more than we wanted.
Unforeseen circumstances had, however, thrown out our cal-
culations considerably. The various desertions and casualties
had reduced the number of porters, and we had not been
altogether right in our selection of stores: we had too much
of some things and not enough of others.

With a view to getting a thoroughly accurate idea of the
state of our resources, we resolved to have every bale over-
hauled, and this task was confided to Qualla, with the guides
and Askari under him. Then we must make some more
naiberes and string some more beads in the orthodox way.
Maktubu had brought with him some thousand fine needles, and
for thread quantities of the extraordinarily strong fibres of the
leaves of the Hypheena thebaica were already prepared ; so that
the making of pombo, as the strings of beads are called, could
proceed merrily beneath the big shelter which had been specially
erected for the purpose.

ADVENTURES OF SCHAONGWE Lis

Our donkeys and cattle, which were suffering dreadfully
from the immense numbers of flies of different kinds, we sent
with an escort of eight men to Miriali. We also sent a certain
quantity of thick copper wire, begging him to have it made into/
the little chains that are so much sought after in Masailand.

Another party of men, sent off the day after our arrival,
were charged to go to the nomad Masai on the Dariama to
buy seventy dressed half-tanned oxhides to make saddles for
our pack-animals ; whilst a third contingent, under one Juma
Mussa Naddim Balosi, was sent to Useri to buy goats. This
Juma we had recently hired from James Martin, who was still
in Taveta, for thirteen dollars a month. He was a native of
Tanga, in the prime of life, had made many journeys in Masai-
land, spoke the language well, and was altogether very experi-
enced. He told us that Useri, in the Jagea district, would be
the best place for buying goats, but he only brought back four,
the fact being that they are very scarce in the whole of the
Kilimanjaro neighbourhood.

On the morning of May 21 Schaonewe came back with his
earavan. He had marched with his men to Tarawanda, at the
foot of the Usambara range, half-way between Masinde and
Mautui, where he found one hundred loads, brought there from
Mawia by Jumbe Kimemeta. On his way there Schaongwe had
lost two of his Askari, who had gone off with the stores of pro-
visions he had brought for his men, and when he got to Tara-
wanda twenty porters and the second guide, Nassid wadi Ferhan,
declared quite openly that they meant to go to Pangani, an
intention they did not fail to carry out. Moreover, Schaongwe
tound that nearly every load had been opened and some of the
contents stolen, Sultan Sembodja conniving at the theft. After
waiting a long time for the return of the men from Pangani,
Schaonewe started again, but he had to leave twenty-three loads
behind him for want of porters. He allowed himself no time

174. TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

to rest, however, and two days later he was again on the way
to Tarawanda with thirty men.

At this time the Church Missionary station at Mochi, on
Kilimanjaro, was in regular monthly postal communication with
Mombasa. Only small weights, I believe, of from about twenty-
two to twenty-six pounds, were carried in each parcel; but the
transit was effected in the remarkably short time of five days,
and as the post always touched at Taveta, we were able to get
a good many necessary articles by its means.

It took us about a week to get everything straight in the
caravan, but after that we had leisure for other occupations,
and Count Teleki availed himself of it to go off for five days’
hunting near Lake Jipe, with the results recorded in the
following extracts from his journal :—

‘May 27.—I started with thirty men in the direction of our
former camp by the lake, and I had hardly left the forest of
Taveta behind me before I brought down two Mpala antelopes
from a considerable distance. We reached the old camp at
four o'clock in the afternoon.

‘ May 28.—We marched nearly to the southern end of the
lake and camped, passing on the way the remains of a recently
killed colossal elephant, which had already been deprived of
its tusks by the Wandorobbo, or Wakemba. My bag to-day
consisted of six guinea-fowls and an Hast African partridge.
The weather was beautiful after all the rain, the sky cloudless,
the sun very hot in the day, but the nights were cool.

‘May 29.—With Maktubu, Bedue, and theSomal, Mahommed
and Kharscho, who formed my usual hunting-staff, [now scoured
the wild bush on the east of the lake. The game was unusually
shy, and it was only after a lot of trouble that we brought
down two Mpala antelopes. Then the lynx-eyed Bedue spied
a rhinoceros some 800 paces off under the shade of a solitary
bush. We approached cautiously till we were about forty paces

VAGARIES OF BEDUE Lis

from it. We were under very good cover, but I could not see
the animal well enough to fire, so I had to step out in the open.
The rhinoceros, which had probably already scented his danger,
no sooner saw me than he charged full upon me. I fired from
the shoulder with my 577 Express; there was a loud report,
but no apparent result, the animal dashing on without a pause.
I was now for a moment the hunted instead of the hunter, the
rhinoceros following my zigzag course only, fortunately, to rush
beyond me. A second shot was now possible. I fired, but

too low; however, after running another two

hundred paces the animal stood still. Bedue,
who had been very much in my way when |

shot the second time, now, in excited delight,

rushed at my victim; why, I cannot imagine.
Anyhow he drove the animal away, for it . 2
dashed off, and though we followed its track ~ Se
for some time we lost it, chiefly because, coming
upon quite fresh elephant-spoors, we turned
aside for them; also in vain, for we saw nothing
more. Our rest at night was constantly dis- =
turbed by the grunting and splashing of the :
hippopotami in the lake. Br ae al

‘May 30.—I made a very successful double
shot, bringing down two Mpala antelopes at once. I left two
men in charge of them and went on. Very soon these men
rushed breathlessly after me to tell me they had seen three
lions. Traces of these animals could be clearly made out,
but they led into a thorn thicket, into which it was impossible
to follow them. On the way home I shot a wild hoe and a
couple of guinea-fowls.

‘ May 31.—I had the tents struck, and went hunting with
my whole caravan back to the camp on the upper lake. The
results were small and not worth the trouble taken. I had

176 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

many a breathless chase after oiraffes on this march, but I got
not a single shot. A dwarf antelope no bigger than a hare
was all I brought down that day.’

On June 1 Count Teleki, and also the men under the charge
of Tom Charles, got back to Taveta. Tom had brought his
mission to a successful termination. He had rather fallen out
of favour with us, but we had been mistaken in our judgment.
He was not very big, but as strong as a Hercules, and his face
was marked with many a scar which he had won in drunken
brawls. We had ordered him to inflict a flogging on some
offender, and he had refused to do so, as he could not bring
himself to hit a fellow-man. His behaviour seemed absurd,
but the discipline of the caravan was not then such as to
warrant the personal chastisement of a guide, and the matter
was passed over. From many a subsequent experience we
found that Tom Charles really was a most tender-hearted
fellow.

A second series of astronomical observations was now neces-
sary, to determine the condition and rate of our chronometer,
after which we set to work in earnest at our preparations for
ascending Kilimanjaro. We decided to send Juma Mussa and
another man on two days in advance to tell Miriah of our
approach. They started early in the morning, but to our
surprise came back to camp in a few hours, and Mussa told us
in excited Tanga-Swahili that they had with great difficulty
escaped from a band of some thirty or forty Masai warriors.
We believed this story, as there were often numbers of Masai
prowling about in the neighbourhood of Taveta; but an hour
later two men and a woman from Mwika came into camp, and we
naturally asked them if they too had seen these warriors. They
said, ‘No; no Masai moran; but we did see two Wangwana,
who stopped when they saw us a hundred yards off, and then
turned tail and ran away as fast as their legs would carry them.’

THE CAMP ON FIRE Lia

There was no doubt that these three natives of Mwika were all

our men had seen, so we sent for the heroes and confronted
them with our visitors. Juma Mussa was at first speechless
with astonishment at the truth coming out so soon, but he stuck
to his original assertion. His companion Ulaya, an intelligent
little fellow from Unyamwesi, was not a bit ashamed to own
that these three natives were the only people they had seen,
adding, ‘ And I said to him, No, Juma Mussa, let’s go on; those
are no Masai.’

Our preparations for the ascent of the mountain were
completed on June 8, and we decided to start the next morning.
We were having supper on this our last evening when a fire in
the camp alarmed us. Fortunately it began at the further
end and there was no wind, but in next to no time a dozen
huts were in flames; the dry rushes with which they were
thatched burnt rapidly, the cartridges which had been left
in the huts, with now and then a powder horn, exploded, the
flames leaped up afresh as some weapon became red hot, whilst
the heat and noise were terrible. We saw it was useless to
attempt to save anything already on fire, so we directed all our
energies to cutting off the supply of fuel, tearing down huts,
dragging away stores, &c., and not until they were all out of
danger had we time to pour water on the still smouldering
embers.

We started on June 9 with sixty-two porters. The beauti-
ful blue sky was perfectly cloudless, and Kibo, the goal of our
wanderings, stood out clear and distinct before us, its majestic
outlines inspiring even the thoughtless natives with something
like awe. We made our entry into Maraneu in the midst of
firing from both sides, some few explosive bullets even being
let off amongst the blank cartridges. Miuriali received us as
before in a flowing red toga. His sharp eyes at once spied
the eighteen-shot repeater Count Teleki had promised him, and

VOlG, I: N

iS TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

they sparkled with delight as he led us to our old meadow,
where two fine cows, his present in token of welcome, were
already tethered. Miriali asked at once for the weapon ; the
other fine things we had brought for him could wait.

The next day was very overcast, and the clouds looked
threatening, but this did not prevent our people from making

OUR CAMP AT MIRIALI’S.

themselves at home. There was always something new to look
at, and in addition to the usual articles of food, we were able to
buy fresh butter. We also got quantities of the iron chains called
Mikufu. Tn the morning we took some observations with the
boiling-point thermometer, which Miriali watched attentively.
Count Teleki explained the mysterious operation to him, and
he translated all he could understand to his assembled people.

A WAR DANCE AT MIRIALIS 179

When we had finished our work, our host took us to his smithy,
where some spears were just then being made; he himself
seized the bellows, and seemed immensely delighted when the
sparks began to fly about. We were then shown wire-drawing
and the process of making copper and iron chains. In the
afternoon Miriali and his wife received part of the presents we
had brought for them, including a grand gilded dragoon’s
helmet and an equally magnificent sabre. We had hoped
that Miriali would have been especially charmed with these
two gifts, but we were disappointed, and the picture-books we
had chosen for his wives and slave-girls were quite incompre-
hensible to them for a long time. The animals were what
they first seemed able to make out.

We were obliged to curb our impatience to be off. Miriali
had decided to honour us with a war dance and military
spectacle, and for this end had summoned all the men and
youths capable of bearing arms. Until the festivities were
over we found a deaf ear turned to everything relating to our
own affairs. On the afternoon of the 12th some 300 men were
assembled in front of Miriali’s hut, many of them wearing
feather collars on their shoulders, and Masai moran masks or
monkeys’ skins on their heads. They had all got themselves
up in as fantastic a manner as possible, and half of them
carried guns, whilst the other half were armed with spears,
shields, and swords. ‘Their war mantles were very much the
shape of the Masai naiberes, but they were made of red or
other coloured stuffs. ‘The dance soon began. The brightly
decked-out performers formed themselves into a circle and set up
areally melodious chant, keeping time by striking their guns or
spears with their clubs. The chant was sung softly in deep
vibrating chest tones. Slowly the circle of dancers moved
round, whilst single performers, generally six at a time, hopped
into the centre and, swinging their weapons to the time of the

N 2

180 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

measure, sprang at reeular intervais into the air. When we had
watched the dance for about an hour, Miriali called us aside
that we might see him put on his gala costume. This toilette
was by no means asimple affair. First he donned a long scarlet
Arab bernouse com-
pletely covered with
sold tinsel; over
this he put a red
general’s coat, also
plentifully adorned
with gold lace,
which had some-
how found its way
from America to
Marangu. He then
fastened below each
knee a Masai or-
nament, made of
colobus skin; on
his shoulders he
placed a fine collar
of vultures feathers,
and on his head
a broad - brimmed
straw hat trimmed
with bright red
bendera, and with
two long white

A KILIMANJARO WARRIOR. ostrich feathers.

The get up was

completed by the winding of some eleven yards of bendera
round and round his body. Like all great people, Miriali has
his flatterers, and his magnificent toilette was performed to the

MIRAE EN? CALA . COSTUME 181

sound of reiterated shouts of admiring delight. One old fellow
was specially amusing. He came up just as the last touches
had been put and Miriali, with sword, shield, and spear, was
stepping forth in self-conscious pride. ‘Ha!’ he cried several
times, ‘ Ha! a lion! —then—‘ No, not a lion! our own Mangi
(chief)! Oh Mangi!’ he went on,‘ thou art like a lion,’ and in
his excitement he hopped round and round his Mangi for a
bit, and then went before him shouting, ‘The hon comes! the
lion comes!’ to the clearing where the whole population of
Marangu was assembled. The dance already described was
then gone through again, the guns, loaded almost to bursting
with powder, going off every now and then. The dancers stepped
out of the circle to fire, pointing their weapons to the ground,
stretched out as far as possible in front of them, springing into
the air as they pulled the triggers. ‘Then they resumed their
places in the circle, with as proud an air as if they had
performed some feat of valour in making all this noise. We
then saw the warriors start as if on the war-path to meet a
real foe. This they did in the skirmishing order we are
familar with in Europe, one or another skirmisher rushing
out of the line every now and then with a terrible cry to dart
upon an imaginary enemy, fire at him and spring back into
the ranks as quickly as possible. This game went on till all
the powder was exhausted.

At Miriali’s request we photographed him with his chief
warriors grouped about him, and then went with him to his hut,
where his three wives, wearing new bright red handkerchiefs,
and his three slave-girls standing in a row were waiting with a
meal ready for us, consisting of well-cooked slices of beef served
on wooden sticks. Miriali told his wives they could begin to
eat whilst he went to take off his grand clothes, and all the
women squatted down, one of them acting as hostess, and cut-
ting off slices of meat, which she handed to her companions.

182. TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

When Miriali returned as a black man, pure and simple, the
eristly ears of the bullock, which had been saved for him as
tid-bits, were handed to him, and this was pretty well all he had.
As for us, we got nothing at all at first, but when our host dis-
covered this, he shoved some meat, which had passed through
many fingers before his, into our mouths with his own hands.
As Mirial had told us, Mandara, the chief of Mochi, was
very wroth at the way we had neglected him. Accustomed to
be treated by all Europeans who visited Kilimanjaro with the
attention and respect due to him as the most important person-
age in the neighbourhood, he could not get over our behaviour.
He had already threatened Mirial on this account several
times, and the young chieftain was often very uneasy about
his own future and about us, especially as to what might happen
whilst we were up on the mountain. Count Teleki did all he
could to reassure him, laughed at his anxiety, and told him he
was perfectly welcome to tell Mandara we were his allies and
he could come on if he hiked. ‘The Count generally made it a
rule not to interfere in native politics, but he felt that he ought
to make an exception in this case, and we were fully deter-
mined to put the matter right as soon as Mandara gave us the
slightest opening, as the peace and prosperity of all the Kih-
manjaro districts were really at stake in the matter.1. The next
morning we set to work to try and engage euides, but for a
long time we could not come to any agreement, although
Miriah himself was present. At last even he lost patience, and
in a long speech urged all present to look upon us as his
friends and to treat us better, for, he said, showing an un-
expected acquaintance with books, all Kurope watched what
1 Soon after our return to Europe we heard that Mandara had taken vengeance
on Miriali, driving him from house and home and laying waste his country. We
wondered greatly that these proceedings, which checked all progress at Kilimanjaro

and threw fresh power and wealth into the hands of the robber, were allowed to take
place without opposition.

AN OPEN AIR FEAST SS

was going on at Kilimanjaro. He wound up by throwing the
two and a half doti merikani and the one and a quarter doti
bendera at the heads of the recalcitrant guides, which put an
end to the discussion. We finally secured the four men who
had been guides in 1884 to Mr. H. H. Johnston.

In the afternoon there was another war dance, in which, at
our request, our men were allowed to take part, the combined
forces attacking with great bravery the imaginary foe. We
were to start the next day, leaving ten of our men with Miriali;
ten others were to take Jumbe Kimemeta to Taveta, and the
rest to go up the mountain with us.

We were up betimes on June 14, though it was bitterly
cold, but there were so many little things to do that it was
eight o’clock before we could start. Muiriali went a little way
with us, and under his guidance we marched towards the moun-
tain up hill and down dale in the bright sunshine, between the
shady hedges of his plantations, and over several little streams
and two rushing brooks with fine waterfalls. In about an hour
Miriah called a halt near some huts, and a regular entertain-
ment began. Natives brought heavy wooden vessels full of
pombe, and bowls of the sour hquid were solemnly emptied to
begin with, the people listening attentively to all their Manei
had to say. Miriali was in capital spirits, and talked brightly
and eloquently, his sallies bemg greeted again and again by
shouts of laughter. The pombe was soon all gone. Then we
marched on, to halt again in half an hour in a beautiful open
mountain meadow. Our men went a little further on to a camp-
ing-place, but we stayed behind to partake of a feast spread
for us by Miriali, who would not let us, as he said, leave him
hungry. The preparations did not take more than a few
minutes. The animals for the meal were killed by a stab in the
heart, great care being taken that not a drop of blood should be
lost. The heart, liver, and the blood collected in the intestines

L84 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

were taken out through a slit made between the fore-legs, the
blood was drunk warm, and the intestines and entrails were
eaten raw. ‘The body was cut up, the pieces were stuck on
wooden sticks and toasted at the open fire, or simply smoked,
the tid-bits being given to Miriah who cut thin slices off them,
and with an expression of affectionate benevolence pushed them
into our mouths. The natives squatted round lke a pack of
hounds watching the meat in Miriah’s hand, as the remains
were flung to them when the best parts had been cut off, and
then there was always a fight over them. The toasted meat,
though still bleeding, and eaten without salt, did not taste bad,
and we did good execution on it, so that when the roasted
entrails were served we told Miriali we really had had more
than enough.

We often noticed that with natives accustomed to a vege-
table diet meat had much the same effect as drink, only of
course in a considerably minor degree, and in this case there
was soon greatly increased cheerfulness.

After the feast we enjoyed for a time the beautiful view at our
feet, no less than seven districts—Mamba, Samanga, Marangu,
Kkilema, Kirua, Mochi, and Tela—being spread out beneath us.
Then we took leave of Miriali and went to our camp, which was
situated on a grassy slope at a height of about 5,460 feet. On
one side was a banana plantation and on the other were a few
huts. Natives poured in and stopped till quite late at night in
spite of the rain which had now set in. Many things, notably
the dress of the natives, indicated that we were now beyond the
usual beat of caravans. Stuffs were scarce, and full-grown girls
went about in the garb of Paradise, with nothing more on than
a little fringe of beads suspended from the waist. We noted
soon, too, that we were in a small self-governed community away
from the jurisdiction of law courts, as the following incident,
which occurred that same evening, will show. Though the ruler

OUR GUN IS RETURNED 185

- of the land himself had escorted us here, a gun was stolen from
us. We took no further notice of the theft than to say we should
send to tell Miriali unless it was returned at once, and at nine
o’clock in the evening it came back, with the addition of a fat
goat, the fine imposed on the thief by the elders of the village.

To the regret of the natives, who were in camp very
early with quantities of bananas, beans, and maize, which they

A BIT OF PRIMAVAL FOREST ON KILIMANJARO.

hoped to sell, we started again the next morning. The thermo-
meter marked +12° Centigrade, and it was raining too, which
made things anything but pleasant. The four slave-girls, who
appeared in the same simple toilettes as the day before, shivered
with the cold and clung together to try and get warm. We first
crossed the brook, beyond which we came to a banana-hedge
with a strong door, through which we had to creep. This

186 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

brought us to the boundary of the upper mountain district,
which could not be at a much higher altitude than the camp we
had left but ten minutes before, viz., about 5,460 feet. The
plantations ceased here, but a good and apparently much used
path led further up. Several kinds of sage, some more than
9 feet high, and a sort of bramble with a red fruit about the
size of a walnut, ferns and heaths were plentiful, the last-named
preponderating as we got higher up. At a height of 6,300
feet, however, all these were merged in the primeeval forest, in
which old patriarchs with knotted stunted forms stood closely
together, many of them worsted in the perpetual struggle with
the encroachments of the parasitical growths of almost fabulous
strength and size, which enfolded trunks and branches alike
in their fatal embrace, crippling the giants themselves and
squeezing to death the mosses, lichens, and ferns which had
clothed their nakedness. Everything living seemed doomed
to fall a prey to them, but they in their turn bore their own
heavy burden of parasites: creepérs, from a yard to two
yards long, hanging down in garlands and festoons, or forming
one thick veil shrouding whole clumps of trees. Wherever a
little space had been left amongst the many fallen and decay-
ing trunks, the ground was covered with a luxuriant vegetation,
including many varieties of herbaceous plants with bright-
coloured flowers, orchids, and the modest violet peeping out
amonest them, whilst more numerous than all were different
lycopods and sword-shaped ferns. |

In this old-world forest a gloomy greenish twilight pre-
vails even at mid-day, and the stillness is unbroken by the
cry of bird or beast, or even the hum of insect. No man
could possibly make his way through the dreary solitudes, and
we ourselves painfully followed the track broken open and
trodden down by elephants. After about an hour’s such
marching we came to a grassy clearing bright with many

A BEAUTIFUL CLEARING 187

beautiful flowers, flame-coloured irises and amaryllises, red and
yellow everlasting flowers, &c. Then we once more entered the
solitudes of the forest, the violets, campanulas, and ranunculi
reminding us at every step of our northern flora. It was now
almost dark in the wood, a thick fog having come on, but
another hour brought us out on to a rather steep grassy slope,

TREE HEATH.

and at three o’clock in the afternoon we reached our camp-
ing-place, a swampy bit of ground by a spring at the edge of a
wood, at a height of some 8,960 feet. The fog and damp cold
had greatly discouraged our people, but they soon cheered up as
they gathered round the huge fires. The next morning the

188 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

thermometer gave a reading of +1° Centigrade as the minimum
night temperature. The fog was still thick, but there was every
promise of a fine day. So far, the path had led steadily upwards
towards Kimawenzi, but now it bore north-west through the
wood on the edge of which we had camped. This wood con-
sisted chiefly of tree heaths and coniferous trees, one of the
latter greatly resembling the cypress of Europe, whilst another
had willow-like foliage. The trees were not quite so close to-
gether here, and the plants covering the ground between them
were proportionately more luxuriant. We reached a brook on
the borders of the wood in about half an hour. The fog had
now lifted a little and revealed a grand landscape; the dense
forest was at an end now, only the ravines and fissures being
still overgrown with trees, the dark-green (almost black) foliage
contrasting forcibly with the yellow steppe-lke slopes. Far
above them, but not directly connected with these slopes, rose
Kibo and Kimawenzi. We gazed long at the two peaks of
Kulimanjaro bathed in the glorious sunbeams, and then pressed
on in a north-westerly direction over many grass-grown de-
clivities and across deep ravines, down which tumbled little
streams, arriving at ten o’clock at the edge of a brook where
one of our guides told us Mr. H. H. Johnston had made his
head-quarters. There could be no doubt of the truth of this
assertion as the huts of some of his men still remained standing
almost uninjured, as well as the outer and inner fences, the
latter intended to form a harbour of final refuge in case of
attack, all described in Johnston’s own account of his travels in
East Africa, published in London in 1886. Our people were
ordered to build carefully covered-in huts, for the days as
well as the nights were sure to be cold in spite of the
present heat of the sun, which the huts were to be so con-
structed that a fire could be lit inside. To begin with, the
whole place was cleared and the hedges were taken away as

FLORA ON KILIMANJARO 189

superfluous, there being no enemies, animal or human, to be
euarded against here, but only the mysterious forms assumed
by the mist rising and sinking here and there like ghosts.

This camping-place was at a height of about 9,390 feet, on a
orass-clad slope shaded by tree heaths some 66 feet high. In
addition to everlasting flowers, irises and amaryllises, there were

SENECIO JOHNSTONII OLIO.

numerous lobelia (Lobelia Deckeniz), which grow from three and
a quarter to nine and a half feet high, but those we saw were
either over and dried up, or quite young specimens with stalk-
less rosettes of leaves squat on the ground. In the bed of the
brook hard by, in addition to quantities of brush, there were
several examples of the tree-like Senecio Johnstoni in full

190 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

flower. ‘The largest reached a height of about sixteen and a
half feet, and the beautiful orange-coloured flowers were from
three and a quarter to four feet long. The round stem, which
is of a medium thickness of from five to six inches, is covered
with the scars of the old leaves, forming a kind of rough rind,
and though these stems are hollow and apparently slender, I
tried in vain to pick a piece. The main stem forks three times,
but there are secondary simple stems which also bear flowers.
We saw hardly any mountain fauna, although the temperature
at mid-day, in spite of the thick fog, was +10°5 Centigrade.
Two crows with white spots on their necks, which flew rapidly
past, and one solitary singing bird were all the feathered fowl
we caught sight of. Our collections here consisted only of one
erey mouse, one little chameleon, three small lizards, two short-
winged brightly-coloured grasshoppers, one greyish-yellow
Phasmodea, not quite two inches long, several little blue-caps,
and a beautiful large nocturnal peacock’s-eye butterfly.

In the afternoon Count Teleki went off to take our bearings,
but the increasing density of the fog soon compelled him to
return. A night with the temperature at +47° Centigrade
was succeeded by a dreary day of thick fog and persistent
fine but soaking rain, preventing us from doing anything, so
that we remained from morning till meght by our huge fire.
The seven goats we had brought with us suffered much from
the cold, and got so near the fire that some of them burnt their
hoofs. They were gentle, affectionate animals, used to living
with the natives in their huts, and they liked to get as close to
us as they could, and to spend the night in our tent.

June 18 passed in much the same way; everything was
ready for the ascent of the mountain, and we had simply to
wait with folded arms for the next clear morning.

The coolness of the following night convinced us, even with
closed tents, that the next day would be fine, and with the first

A MOUNTAIN SPRING 19]

streaks of dawn we sprang up, rushed out and roused our
men, for there was Kibo standing out clear and bright against
the sky.

The ascent of Kilimanjaro is, of course, made from the
saddle connecting the two peaks. The ridge on which we had
camped was bounded on either side by brooks flowing through
deep, and here and there, ravine-like beds. As far as we could
make out, this ridge ran straight alone the middle of the saddle,
so that we could not miss our way even if the fog gathered
again. We started with fifteen Swahili carrying our instru-
ments, two little mountain tents, rugs, and provisions. The foe
came on again and again, but was always dispersed by the sun.
At nine o'clock we had reached an altitude of 10,897 feet,
and our men already showed signs of fatigue, though none
of the loads exceeded 44 lb. in weight; so we halted for a
short rest. For a little further distance the ridge gradually
increased in height, but became rapidly narrower. At a height
of 11,460 feet the width was only a little over 328 feet; at
12,640 feet the ravine on the right side came to an end, and we
found ourselves standing by the source of the stream by which
we had camped. Although there was thin ice round the edges
of this spring, the immediate neighbourhood was covered with
luxuriant green turf. Here, too, were a few remarkable
specimens of the Senecio, looking from the distance like
tables covered with flowers. These were the last specimens of
Senecio we saw. Ata quarter to twelve we were at the source
of the stream on our left, at a height of 15,230 feet. The water
murmured underneath a springy bed of turf several inches thick,
and so close and firm that we could stand upon it. Here lived
many water-rats, and we could see them happily swimming
about, but we could not catch any. There was a good deal of
ice about this spring also, although the temperature of the
water was + 7° Centigrade. The path now led rapidly to the

192 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

saddle by way of a low wall of rock, and, arrived there, we
bore more to the left so as to approach Kibo more closely.
Although we were now marching over level ground, we were
obliged to halt at two o'clock on account of our black
companions, who already showed signs of exhaustion. We
made them just put up our two little tents and collect some
brushwood ; then we sent them back to the lower camp, with
orders to return here at the same time the next day.

This, our highest camping-place on Kilimanjaro, was about
equidistant from Kibo and Kimawenzi, not exactly on the ridge
of the plateau, but a little lower down on the southern slope.
The saddle plateau looked like a level plain with an almost
imperceptible upward slope on the north, and a sheht inclina-
tion towards the two peaks. Our horizon was bounded on the
north by three red hills of ashes of a relative height of about
490 feet, which extended from the north-east side of Kibo to the
south-west side of Kimawenzi. The plateau was disagreeably
encumbered with quantities of large and small sharp-edged
blocks of rock. Between these boulders grew a yellowish-
brown dried-up plant which would serve at need as fuel, though
it burnt as rapidly as straw. Here and there at wide intervals
were red everlasting flowers and a kind of thistle, the prickly
leaves of which were thickly covered with hair and coiled over
near the middle, so as to give the whole plant a spherical
form. We saw no more heaths at this altitude. .

After a hasty meal of preserved ham, cocoa, and ship’s
biscuit, washed down by a draught of wine, we took some
observations with the boiling-point thermometer, the water
boiling at + 86°71° Centigrade, which, with the temperature of
the air at +3°6° Centigrade, gave a height of 13,818 feet above
the sea-level. Then Count Teleki, armed with his mountain
stock, started in the direction of Kibo, whilst I set to work to
take some photographs. The conditions were, however, very

A BITTER NIGHT ON KIBO 193

unfavourable, and I only succeeded in getting one view of
Kimawenzi. Fogs came up from below ever more and more
frequently, and rushed, as if driven before a hurricane, at the
two peaks, yet all the while the most solemn stillness reigned,
broken only by the sound of my own footsteps. A hunt for
any living creatures sharing my solitude was rewarded by the
finding only of one little black spider.’ So there was nothing
moreto be done now, and we made our preparations for the night.
We made our little men mountain tents as snug as we could,
piling up sand outside to keep out the cold, and lit a fire with
straw at which to warm ourselves and brew some cocoa. The
temperature fell rapidly; at six o’clock in the evening the
thermometer registered —0°5° Centigrade, but at a quarter to
eight it marked —7‘6° Centigrade. I had already been very
conscious of the rarity of the atmosphere, and had to take
breath very much oftener than usual when I was at work. As
night fell the fog cleared off, and against the cloudless, moonlit,
star-bespangled sky we could see the ice-clad peak of Kibo as
clearly as by day. The fuel we had collected had nearly burnt
out, and the bitter cold now drove us into our tent. We had
thick woollen underclothes and heavy overcoats on, with warm
wraps to supplement them, but for all that we were kept awake
all night by the bitter cold, and rushed out quite early in the
morning but little refreshed by our rest. ‘The things we had
left out were covered with a thick coating of ice, and we saw
that the thermometer had marked —11° Centigrade during the
night, which did not at all surprise us. We set to work to make
another big fire at which to thaw our frozen limbs. Owing to
the slow combustion in the rare atmosphere, the ashes that
we had left nine hours before were still smouldering, so we
had only to fling on a little more fuel to get a good blaze. The
water in our flasks was frozen hard and had to be melted before

1 Tylophora bicolor, new species, Eug. Sim.

VOL;..I- O

194 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

we could make our cocoa. Our breakfast over, we packed a
knapsack with several aneroids, a hypsometer, an ice-file, snow
spectacles, a flask of brandy, and other odds and ends, and,
carrying our climbing-irons, ice-picks, and mountain-stocks in
our hands, we started at six o'clock, as lively as only those can
be who have been up all night, in the direction of Kibo, which
stood out before us with outlnes clearly defined. The snow
with which the upper portion of Kibo is draped extends much
lower down on the south-east than on the east, the ice-cap being
broken away on that side, leaving an almost horizontal wall,
the upper edge of the crater retaining only quite a narrow rim
of elittering ice. We could make out a black fissure between
the ice-masses, by which it seemed as if we could reach the
upper edge of the crater without setting foot on snow or ice,
and this we now meant to try and do. For the first two hours
the ascent was so gradual as to be almost imperceptible, and
we stept out briskly hoping to get warm, for when we started
the thermometer had marked —4'6° Centigrade. We passed
masses of lava, which had spht in different directions, as is usual
with vitreous substances during rapid congelation. No doubt
this was the formation compared by H. H. Johnston to huge
tortoise-shells. It was not until we had crossed the plateau
and were close to the foot of Kibo that the ground became a little
more uneven. We were now at the entrance to a ravine leading
quite gently up to the peak, but we turned aside from it and
continued our march over a ridge forming the slope of the
valley on the right. This ridge consisted entirely of lava,
broken up in its eruption into countless huge blocks, which all
however, in spite of their irregularity of form, betrayed a certain
uniformity of cleavage. Even this ridge could not be called
steep, but walking over it was very arduous, as we often had
to spring from block to block with the help of our Alpine
stocks. This mode of progression exhausted me dreadfully,

I AM EXHAUSTED WITH CLIMBING 195

and, with the temperature at + 10°5° Centigrade, I was soon
much too hot. The trifles I had to carry felt lke a hundred-
weight, my thick clothes were a burden, and the continuous
climbing brought on almost intolerable thirst. I was obliged
to stop oftener and oftener to rest and to draw in long breaths
of the thin air, whilst Count Teleki was still able to spring
nimbly from rock to rock. I became indifferent to everything,

KIMAWENZI FROM THE SADDLE PLATEAU.

and when at last I struggled on again I aimed, not at reaching
the top of Kibo, but a little patch of snow I had spied in the
distance, and at which I hoped to quench my burning thirst.
At five-and-twenty minutes to eleven we reached it, and I had
meanwhile come to the conclusion that at the best I could not
climb more than a few hundred yards further, and that I was
only hindering Count Teleki by my fatigue. So I made up my

0 2

196 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

mind to stop where I was and await his return. When he was
gone I greedily swallowed a number of the hard lumps of the
sritty ice, ascertained with the aid of my aneroid that I was at
a height of 16,240 feet, and then, fully satisfied with all I had
achieved, I yielded to my irresistible desire for sleep.

I was awoke from a short deep slumber by a strong wind
and the dazzling rays of the mid-day sun. The sky itself was
still perfectly clear, but clouds were gathering below me, and
Kibo was already draped in fog. Count Teleki was not back
nor could I see him with the naked eye, so I tried to amuse
myself in my immediate surroundings. Plants were of course
very scarce, and I was the more surprised to see a solitary
specimen of one of the Compositee ' which had just put forth a
yellow flower, and the lonely spider already mentioned still
represented the entire animal kingdom. Presently I heard the
click of Count Teleki’s Alpine stock, but I could not see him,
sharp as are my eyes, till some time after. It was just ten
minutes to one when he rejoined me.

The Count had climbed on without the slightest difficulty
for an hour, when he began to feel a certain straining of the
membrane of the tympanum of the ear, accompanied by a rush-
ing noise in his head, but he pressed on all the same. As he
was cutting across a declivity filled with ashes to reach the
snow, which here completely covered the slope of the peak, he
noticed that his lips were beginning to bleed freely; he also
felt dreadfully sleepy, but although he almost caught himself
napping he would not give in but went on till he reached the
snow, where sleep so nearly overcame him that, knowing it
would be dangerous to yield to it, he decided to return. His
aneroid had registered 411°3 millimetres, so he had reached
a height of 17,387 feet.

After a short rest we hurried back to our tents, the position

1 Erigeron Teleki Schweinfurth, new species.

THE SUFFERINGS OF OUR MEN FROM COLD EOF

of which was indicated by the smoke ascending near them, and
arrived there in an hour and forty minutes to find our men
already round a blazing fire, which they had easily made as they
found the ashes of ours still smouldering. Whilst the tents
were being struck we fortified ourselves with biscuits and wine
and hastened off, as we had no desire to spend another night
here. We knew our way back well enough, and in spite of
the fog we arrived at our camp at twenty minutes to six,
hungry, thirsty, and I at least thoroughly tired out.

All our food being consumed, we were obliged to go back
to Marangu, without making a second attempt to ascend Kibo.
We made up our minds, however, to pay another visit to Kili-
manjaro at the end of our journey, and to make more careful
preparations to scale Kibo. To ensure full success a night
must be spent at a height of 19,023 feet, and the explorer must
take fuel with him. On the following morning, June 21, we
started again, and following our former route we reached our
camp at Miriali’s early in the afternoon.

We rewarded our guides with an extra ten mikono gamti
each, so that in a short time they had earned quite a nice little
sum. But for all that their recollections of the time passed at a
height of 9,390 feet cannot have been of a very rosy description.
They had demanded many yards of stuff in advance, in which
to wrap themselves as a protection from the cold of the journey,
but after all they had not taken them with them, and in the
garb of Adam in Paradise they of course suffered frightfully.
Nor had they taken any food but a bottle of milk, so that they
were both hungry and thirsty by the time we were upon the
mountain. We left them alone for two days as a punishment,
and then we gave them each a handful of beans, which was
all we had ourselves. And they ate nothing but these for five
whole days !

During the next few days we watched the making of spears

198 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

and swords, added to our stores of butter and mikufu, chatted
with the natives, and for the rest of the time did nothing at all.
On the second day messengers arrived from Mochi with two
letters. One was dictated by Mandara in Arabic, and contained
creetings, professions of friendship, and an urgent request to
us to visit him, whilst the other was written at Mandara’s
request by the Rev. Mr. Fitch, a missionary at Mochi, also beg-
cing for a visit and giving us some local news. Amongst
other things, he told us that the people of Mochi were all
feverishly preparing for a slave and cattle raid on the two Pare
chiefs, Muanamata and Mpesa, to whom he had introduced
us. Miriali told us that Mandara had already asked him some
time ago to share in this expedition, but he had given an
evasive answer, as he could not count on a fair division of the
spoil with that chief. Mandara generally makes these raids
with the help of the natives of Arusha-wa-ju, and to their
combined forces are due most of the thefts in the coast
districts, with which the Masai are generally credited. ‘The Kili-
manjaro chiefs—Mandara especially—march upon the people of
the mountain itself, especially those of the Jagga states of Rombo
and Useri, which are not yet provided with guns. Oxen and
slaves are the principal things coveted, the chiefs requiring
numbers of the former, some for their own use and some to
sell. Moreover, the purchase ofivory is really only a secondary
aim of the many little caravans which go up country almost
every month from Mombasa, slaves being what they chiefly
seek ; but children only are carried off, adults being killed.
Mandara, who had found out through his spies what
presents we had given to Miriali, was fearfully enraged and had
several times threatened the latter with war. He sent word
to Miriali that the repeating rifle, revolver, and helmet were
all presents meant by Sultan Seyid Burgash for him. Yet
Miriali had succeeded in enticing us to him, an easy matter

MANDARA’S THREATS 199

enough, for Europeans were as fond of fat oxen as hyznas
(wasunga Kana wanaona ugombe a mafuta, saua kana mafisst).
Mandara gave vent to his spleen in many other aspersions ;
for instance, he called Miriah the European’s donkey driver
(mischunga a punda a wasungu) because he took care of our
animals for us, and though the latter could not help laughing
when he told us, he was really a good deal alarmed at the
threats of his powerful father-in-law.

The end of the month of Ramadan, the Mahomedan fast,
the beginning of which our people had celebrated at Taveta
with so much shouting and firing of guns, had nowcome. Our
porters were only Mahomedans now and then, when it hap-
pened to suit them ; in fact, with them, as with the wild beasts
of the primeeval forests, their only god was their belly, so that
the conclusion of Ramadan was a great occasion for them, and
they demanded a bullock to celebrate it. One was given to
them, but when they carried their impudence so far as to say
that it was not enough to fill 60 stomachs and they must have
another, we thought a few cuts with a stick might add weight
to their religious convictions. When we were at Taveta they
would take Friday as a holiday on account of its being a
Mahomedan feast-day, and then claim Sunday as well.

One afternoon Miriali took us to a beautiful waterfall on
the Monja stream, the noise of which reached the camp. The
clear full volume of water here flung itself down from a height
of some 36 or 37 feet. This fall is the first of three cataracts
formed by the Monja in its upper course, and after its junction
with the Uona there is a fourth larger than any of these.

The evening before we left, Miriali asked us to write a testi-
monial saying we were satisfied with his treatment of us, and
this we were able to do gladly and conscientiously, for he had
never begged, and for all the presents Count Teleki gave him of
his own free will he had returned full measure in oxen, goats,

200 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

spears, swords, &c. We started late on June 26, as it rained
in the early morning. To the sound of the usual firing of
couns, we left Marangu, escorted by Miriali, who marched with
us for three-quarters of an hour before he took leave. We
presently met fifty or sixty of Miriali’s people on their way
home from a raid on the Wagweno, bringing with them as
booty two cows and two goats, as well as a lot of pieces of
quartz, which they wanted for filing their spears and swords.
The next day at noon we reached Taveta. As we approached
we saw another caravan from Mombasa wending its way
through the wood, and soon we had the pleasure of exchang-
ing greetings with two Europeans, Dr. Hans Meyer and Lieu-
tenant von Eberstein. Dr. Meyer was the leader of the cara-
van, and, to quote his own words, the object of his journey
was to explore ‘the German sphere of interest throughout its
entire breadth, whilst von Eberstein, an agent of the German
East African Company, had been sent out with several com-
panions to found a station in Little Arusha. He had joined Dr.
Meyer for a time and with him made the ascent of Kibo. Both
these gentlemen had the usual tales to tell of the unfaithfulness of
their men, and a few days’ march from Mombasa Dr. Meyer had
had all his stores of clothes, money, books and maps stolen.
Whilst we had been away, Schaongwe and Nassid wadi
Ferhan had returned, the former bringing with him the re-
mainder of our goods from Tarawanda and a man who had
run away, to set against which he had lost two of his own men.
Nassid, who had been as far as Zanzibar, had beaten Schaongwe
in that he had brought back eleven men, but then he had
sinned in other directions, for he had stolen some of our goods
at Tarawanda and had let three delinquents escape him who had
been given into his charge in chains by Consul Oswald. When
we got back to Taveta this time we found a number of tall flag-
staffs dotted about the forest from which waved merrily the

_-. MAKTUBU’S INSOLENCE 201

red flag of the Sultan, and we were told that General Matthews
had been to Mombasa and summoned to his presence James
Martin, then engaged on Kilimanjaro, and a deputation of
Wataveta. The latter had been dismissed with presents of
cuns, &c., and went back to Taveta with Martin, soon after
which the red flag was hoisted and the settlement thus declared
to be under the protection of the Sultan. The very first
evening after our return we sat in judgment on Nassid wadi
Ferhan, and he was condemned to degradation to the rank of a
porter and thirty stripes beneath the Sultan’s flag, after which
he was to be sent back to Zanzibar in chains, for we would
have nothing more to do with him. He was bound to the
fag-staff in the centre of our camp and the lashes were duly
inflicted.

Another bit of news we heard this same day delighted us
creatly. Some weeks before our men had written without our
knowledge, to ask the Sultan whether they should desert, as
usual, and leave the Europeans in the lurch. The Sultan had
replied with the threat that every defaulter would receive
twenty-five lashes every Friday until the return of the Expedi-
tion. I must go back a little to explain this letter to the
Sultan, which emanated from Manwa Sera and Maktubu.
After our return from Mount Meru Maktubu had behaved in
a very arrogant manner, especially towards Qualla, with whom
he quarrelled perpetually, worrying him so much that he at
last complained to Count Teleki. Maktubu followed him, in
a great rage, and in spite of repeated injunctions to control
himself went on screaming and gesticulating in the Count’s
presence, looking like some wild animal, with his great promi-
nent eyes flashing with indignation as he shook his fists and
hurled out one accusation after another against Qualla. The
Count told him to be silent again and again, and at last, losing
patience, he seized him by his curly hair and laid him flat on

202 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

the ground. Maktubu, not a little surprised at this sudden
result of his bold venture, which showed him who was really
master in the caravan, got up boiling over with rage and shame,
for all the men had hurried up to witness the affray. Then off
he went gnashing his teeth in impotent fury, and for weeks
after this neither he nor Manwa Sera, these two being the
chief of the guides, were seen at all, for they remained day and
night in their huts nursing their wrath, doing no work, and not
even coming to fetch their rations. It was now that the letter
to the Sultan was sent off, and not until his reply was received
did the men come to their senses and show themselves again.

The presence of the two German travellers in Taveta made |
a very pleasant break in our hfe, and we enjoyed many a
happy evening with them, missing them sorely when they left
onJuly 2. Dr. Meyer had been persuaded to change his plans
a little, and to visit Mandara at Marangu, which he had no
cause to regret.

At the beginning of July the long-expected caravan of ivory
traders arrived in Taveta from Ngaboto, bringing some 35 lb.
of ivory, chiefly in large tusks. Their presence added to the
scarcity of food, but we were glad to see them, as we were now
able to add to our stock of pack animals. We bought eight
good strong donkeys from them for 240 dollars, paying for them
with drafts on the house of Wm. Oswald and Co., in Zanzibar.
Soon after several other small parties of men came in, some
belonging to Jumbe Kimemeta’s party, others to different
traders, who were anxious to join us, so that there were now
some 600 strangers in Taveta. On July 5 we received the
stores of cowries, small axes, strong rice bags required for
packing our loads of stuffs, and other odds and ends, which we
had ordered in Mombasa of the Hindu trader, Ademji, before
we left for Kilimanjaro. We now had all our stores and goods
together at last, and the next day we began, with feverish

FOUR ASKARI DESERT US 203

eagerness and much laying together of heads, to discuss how
best to manage them all for the further journey. Count Teleki
finally decided to leave the iron boat behind at Taveta, as he
thought we should scarcely need it in our trip to the north of
Lake Baringo. This set twenty-four porters free to carry other
loads, and we further reduced our packages by weeding out all
not absolutely necessary.

Our calculations were, however, a good deal thrown out by
the death in the last few days of two men, one from fever, the
other from dysentery, whilst eight others were so pulled down
that we were obliged to leave them behind. We left a letter for
Dr. Meyer asking him to take the sick men back to the coast. To
wind up our woes, four Askari, experienced men we had set
great store by, and three porters went off, taking their weapons
with them. After this we had every entrance to Taveta care-
fully watched by our faithful Somal; there was no need for
any open threats; our people saw we were thoroughly in
earnest and we had no further trouble with fugitives. Whilst
one half of the men were busy sewing up the stuffs and beads
in rice sacks and rolling up the wire in skins, Count Teleki
gave the rest regular lessons in shooting so as to turn to account
our superfluous gunpowder. So the days passed by in busy
fashion and the time drew near for our departure, much to our
own delight, but not to that of the men, who had been passing
their time in singing and revelry, but now began to wonder
where in the world they were going. There was a lot of talk
or wasumgumsu, about the proposed route, the Masai and,
above all, the Wakikuyu, through whose land we were to pass.
It was much too quiet of an evening now, and we missed the
cheerful chatter, the loud shouts, the singing, and the dancing,
to which we had become accustomed. We would far rather
have had that than the earnest discussions which now went on
round the fires.

204 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU

On July 13 Qualla brought our cattle and donkeys from
Kilimanjaro. Of the latter only twenty-three out of thirty-five
remained, the others having succumbed to the climate; so that
we had at the last moment to increase the loads of the survivors.
The actual loads weighed 110 lb., but each grey donkey really
carried 220 lb. because we put a large axe into each of the
saddle-bags.

On July 14, the day we were to start, the long silent
barghum once more called upon all the men to muster. The
numerous bales of goods, sacks of beads, rolls of wire, and cases
were piled up in long rows in the centre of the camp. Each now
weighed from 84 to 100 lb. and was done up in sackcloth or
skins. The men’s full names were now called out one by one, and
to each was given his own load, weapon, and ammunition. ‘The
conclusion of the distribution was greeted with a loud hip, hip,
hip, hurrah! and the battle-cry, unintelligible to us, of ‘ Saferi
a palepale !’ after which three fat oxen, which had been standing
in readiness, were slain to form tlie Sadaka, or farewell feast.
All the men seemed in good spirits, for in the evening they
jomed in a dance led by Jumbe Kimemeta, who was now
restored to health. Each tribe has its own peculiar dance, and
as our men were of many different races, a wild, extraordinary,
carnival-like scene was soon taking place in our camp. Great
preparations had secretly been made for the revelry, and
cultars, clarionets, fifes, drums, and strange costumes, which
had been smuggled into camp, were now, to our astonishment,
suddenly produced. The heavily charged guns, too, must be
fired to let off some of the superfluous spirits of the men, and
we found ourselves constrained to add a thundering volley
from our own rifles. Panem et circenses !

The march out of Taveta is always a critical moment for a
caravan on the way to Masailand, and therefore we had a
stricter guard than ever kept at the entrances to the settlement.

OUR LAST NIGHT IN TAVETA 205

We gave five loads of goods over to the care of one Mkamba, an
important native of Taveta, and nine other loads we had to send
on in advance to Kimangelia, as we had no porters to carry them
with us, and we hoped when we got there we should be able
to buy donkeys from the Masai. Another secret precaution we
took was to leave ten picked men under Schaongwe in Taveta
with instructions to start for Kimangelia a day after the de-
parture of the main body, so as to intercept any unsuspecting
fugitives who were on their way back. And now, with the happy
conviction that everything was in working and fighting order,
we retired to rest for the last time in Taveta.

CHAPTER IV

THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYULAND
From July 15 to August 27, 1887

We leave Taveta—Along the eastern base of Kilimanjaro—The crater lake of Jala
—A fugitive caught and punished—Hunting adventure—Kimangelia—Count
Teleki goes on in advance—His adventures—Malago Kanga—Amongst the
Masai—Lake Nyiri—-Buffalo hunting—Cattle disease in Masailand—The
steppe on the north of Kilimanjaro—Some account of the Masai—At the foot
of the Doenye Erok la Matumbato—Hunting episode—On the Ngare Kidongoi
—The Wandorobbo—Trading in ivory-—The waterholes of Seki—Tricks of the
Masai—Another buffalo hunt—On the Besil brook—To Turuka—Adventure
with elephants—A lion hunt—A dreary time— Over the Doenye Erok la Kapoté1
—The poisonous Morio tree—Arrival at. Ngongo Bagas.

THERE is always much that is unpleasant about the starting of
a large caravan after a long halt. The demons of anxiety and
care, which had for a time been laid to rest, once more asserted
themselves, and we specially dreaded the march before us, as
men and animals were alike greatly overladen; nor did we
altogether trust the apparent good disposition of our men, but
fully expected them to show the cloven foot before long.

Before daybreak the almost forgotten sound of the barghum
awoke the sleepers from their dreams, but the camp emptied
but slowly this morning. There were a hundred things to
arrange at the last moment. Many were the grievances and
complaints to be attended to, and only singly and in pairs did
the porters file out of camp, the last man not leaving till half
past ten.

The march led us now through a different portion of the

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Ni
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BEFORE LEAVING TAVETA.

CARAVAN

THE

MUSTERING OF

WE CAMP BY THE LUMI 209

Taveta forest ; the trees were not so close together here, and
many slender, graceful stems rose to a great height before they
put forth their crown of sheltering leaves. Then we skirted
along the but slightly ascending base of Kilimanjaro, chiefly
over ground strewn with boulders and red or grey volcanic
ashes, with here and there masses of lava cropping up. Vege-
tation now consisted almost entirely of acacias and baobabs,
the latter leafless, whilst the little grass was yellow and dry.
The more luxuriant green, which we kept on our right hand
at a distance varying from about 220 to 430 yards, marked the
course of the Lumi.

A long halt generally succeeds a short first day’s march, as
there are always a lot of little things to see to before the
journey can be resumed in earnest, but everything went more
smoothly this time than we had ventured to hope, the only
mishaps having been that one donkey proved quite useless,
whilst another fell down and had to be unladen.

We passed the night by the Lumi, which here flows along
a narrow bed of grey tufa, some twenty-two or twenty-three
feet deep. A few hundred paces above our camping-place we
came upon the short, dried-up, ravine-like bed of a brook,
ending abruptly at a precipice some forty feet high. Apparently
this stream, when stream it is, flows into the Lumi, and the
density of the vegetation making it impossible to get anything
of a view will explain the error so many travellers have fallen
into In supposing that the Lumi rises at the foot of this pre-
cipice. A glance at the map will show, however, that the Lumi
is really the lower course of the Rombo.

Near to us, and parallel with the Lumi, rose a low but very
steep ridge, behind which I felt pretty sure I should find the
well-known crater-lake Jala, and the next morning I started
earlier than the main body of the caravan to visit it. After a
quarter of an hour’s march I reached the top of the ridge, and

NOL: 1. 12

210 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

I was indeed well repaid for the small trouble I had taken, for
below me lay the dark blue surface of the crater-lake, sur-
rounded by steep but thickly overgrown walls of rock. The
lake is of triangular shape, from three to four miles in circum-
ference, and apparently of somewhat higher level than the
neighbouring plains.

Mount Kilimanjaro, which rose up clearly in the background,
was reflected in the deep blue water, and the sight was one
over which I could have lingered
long, but the caravan had already
gone on some distance, and it was
absolutely necessary that I should
take my place in the rear guard.

I soon came upon a few of
our guides and Somal, standing
about in the grass round a bale
of goods, which had been flung
down by an absconding porter.
No one had seen him go, so before
we could identify him we had to

consult the lst of names, always

in readiness for emergencies of
this kind. It turned out to be
Kijuma Muynuru, the same man

KIJUMA WADI MUYNURU.

who, as the reader will probably
remember, had shammed madness on the march to the
Ronga. The day before I had found him resting by the way
and threatening that he would run off if a lighter load were
not given to him. Of course no notice was taken of this, and
he had fulfilled his threat. Reproaching myself now for my
negligence, and fearing that this might be the signal for other
defalcations, I determined to do my utmost to get hold of
the man again. We tracked him a few hundred yards to

A REGULAR SIROCCO | 211

the stony ground, where no footprints were left, and then
separated in different directions, hunting him like game. The
firing of a gun a few hours later brought us all together again;
he had been taken by Kharscho, and had evidently already been
well flogged.

Satisfied with the result of our search, we resumed our
march over a dreary, treeless steppe with but a slight ascent,
and in three hours we reached the shade of the lofty trees by
the river, where our camp was pitched. Kijuma wadi Muynuru
now received the balance of stripes due to him, and was then
put in irons.

Our camping-place, which is called Useri after the neigh-
bouring Jagega state of that name, was at a height of about
3,085 feet on the left bank of the Rombo, a stream flowing from
Kilimanjaro in a channel with steep loamy sides some nineteen
to twenty-two feet high. <A little higher the channel forks, and
at the present time both arms of the stream were dry, the water
oozing out of the sand near the camp. After a short southerly
course, the Rombo spreads out into a marshy lake, from which
it issues on the north as the Tzavo, and on the south as the
Lumi.!

We had to stop here two days to buy food, and it was not
until the second day that the mountain people came down,
bringing with them plentiful supplies. The weather was so
bad as to depress not only the spirits of our men, but our own.
There was a regular sirocco blowing with the streneth of from
six to seven (Beaufort’s scale), driving before it low, heavy

' In his Forst Ascent of Kilimanjaro, p. 821, Dr. Hans Meyer gives a slightly
different account of the Rombo and Lumi. He says: ‘ The north side of Mawenzi
forms the watershed for the Indian Ocean .. . In the east rises the Rombo, which
at first follows a southerly course, but after spreading out into the marshy Lake
Rombo (Tzavo), suddenly makes a bend and flows towards the east. The Lumi
also rises on the same side of the peak, and flows so close to the Rombo as almost
to form a fork. The Lumi, however, maintains its southerly direction, and may
thus be said to represent the upper course of the Rufu or Pangani.’—TRans.

Peo

212 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

masses of cloud; it rained continuously, and in spite of our
thick clothes we were freezing at a temperature of +21°
Centigrade.

We turned this pause to account by sending for the goods
left behind at Taveta, and tried to pass the time ourselves in
hunting, but with little result, except that we got to know the
hilly districts on the east somewhat better. We found that these ~
districts were intersected by ravines running in a southerly and
south-westerly direction and containing water, but they were
so overgrown with rushes that 1t was impossible for us to make
out whether the water in them was flowing or stagnant.

Meanwhile two more donkeys had succumbed to the hard-
ships they had had to endure, so we left behind a few coils of
iron wire, and thus hehtened proceeded on our way on the
19th. After several hours’ wandering over dry, grassy steppes
a beautiful group of dark green trees, rising far above any
others, was pointed out to us as our next halting-place. These
trees grew at a sharp bend of the Useri stream, and enclosed a
charming spot simply made for a camp, as the men could rest
in the shade and the animals disport themselves in the open
orass sward in the middle. The vegetation on every side was
most luxuriant, and the trees sheltered us from the chill south-
west wind which continued to blow without intermission.

It was here that six years ago some traders took a bloody
revenge for some little offence committed against them by the
natives. I was surprised, therefore, at the readiness with
which both men and women came to the camp for food, but
there was a certain uneasiness about their bearing towards us.
They did not beg, they would not enter the inner camp, and
they kept well away from our tent. They took very little
notice of us Europeans, and drew back when we tried to
approach them with our most reassuring manner. If, as of
course often happened in such a big caravan, a shot was

DRESS OF THE WAJAGGA 215

fired, they would all hurry away together, and only approach
again with shrinking timidity. Although they were evidently
very poor, these natives of Kilimanjaro were better formed
and healthier looking than those we had seen to the south of
the mountain, probably because the soil is not so fertile here,
and they are obliged to work harder to get a living. In spite
of this they are generally beaten in a fight, but that is the
fault of their weapons and their want of guns. Their spears
are smaller and not of such good metal as those of other
natives of these parts, for they are much less often visited by
caravans and therefore get less iron wire. Their oval-shaped
shields are from about 12 to 16 inches broad and from 24 to
31 inches long. They are not nearly so much ornamented as
those of most Masai tribes, and altogether the get up of these
mountaineers is much simpler than that of their neighbours
in the south. The only garment of the men is a girdle of
undressed oxhide from about 14 to 24 inches broad, whilst
most of the women wear nothing but a strip of beautifully
dressed brown kid-skin about a foot broad round their loins.
Some of the elder women, however, sport spiral brass orna-
ments on their arms and legs and a head-dress of large blue
beads, which stands away from the hair like a little tuft; and
a few of the girls wear strips of leather decked with cowry
shells on their feet. It was a pleasure to note that their ears
are not distorted, both sexes wearing only from one to three
little tin rings in the lobes. We saw neither iron chains nor
small jagga beads here, only the common white china samba)
and the green or blue glass rings called murtinarok. What
were most in demand were the red samesame Masai beads,
about the size of a pin’s head. The natives did not care so
much for the white uschanga beads, and, like all the people of
Jagea, they disliked dark blue ones.

We were often able to see Kilimanjaro during this halt,

214 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

and a glance was enough to show us that the eastern side
must be less fruitful than the more favoured southern districts.
Here, as there, is a girdle of primeval forest, but there are
much fewer grassy openings, and only two deep ravines break
the monotony of the barren or grass-clad ridges above the
wood. The slopes seem completely covered with a thick layer
of ashes, into which all the water sinks, not reappearing until
the plain is reached.

The Wajagga living on the east side of Kilimanjaro culti-
vate two kinds of beans, with eleusine, sweet potatoes, and
tobacco, but neither maize nor sugar-cane. The mountain
pastures cannot support their cattle, which are most of them
taken to graze in the grassy plains below. Almost every day
one sees a long procession of men and animals wending their
way down to the steppes, and three hours later returning, the
men carrying heavy loads of grass on their heads.

We had plenty of time for hunting in our two days’ stay
here, and as usual the Count and I went in opposite directions
so as to secure a larger extent of ground. But we neither of
us got much; the game was very shy, and consisted chiefly of
waterbucks, hartebeests, and zebras. ‘The first day, Count
Teleki brought home a hartebeest which he had killed by a
lucky shot at a distance of 300 paces. I had a zebra hunt,
during which I had an encounter with a rhinoceros. Zebras
are very Inquisitive, and often let the hunter approach in the
open to within 200 or 300 paces of them, and on this occasion
a beautiful plump female paid for her curiosity with her life.
We were just going to cut our victim up when two rhinoceroses
appeared in the distance. They had evidently been disturbed
in a nap by our firing, and now trotted angrily into the open.
Though more than 400 paces off they swerved aside when they
saw us and then dashed upon us with the speed of racehorses.
Of course, as usual, my black companions took to their heels,

el |

ENCOUNTER WITH RHINOCEROSES 245

making for a solitary little tree some distance off. I saw it
was hopeless to think of reaching it, and there was not so much

as a blade of straw for cover anywhere. And behind the dead

zebra, which would have been better than nothing, three of
my men were already crouching. There was nothing for it
but to brave the situation out, so I knelt on one knee, the
better to take aim, and, my elephant gun in my hand, waited

to fire till I could hope to kill) But it seemed a long time

ATTACKED BY RHINOCEROSES.

before I could get a chance of covering the shoulder of either

of the huge beasts, and I knew a shot would be useless any-

where else. Sol did not pull the trigger till one of the animals
was only some eight or ten paces off. The force of the heavy
bullet, propelled by half an ounce of powder, woultl, at least,
check its charge. I saw it stagger and fall, but the next
moment it was on its feet again. It was not killed, but
its ardour was cooled, for it turned away, followed by its

216 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

companion. ‘Twice it seemed about to fall and I did not think
a second shot would be necessary, but it got away with un-
diminished speed, and, though we followed it for some
distance, we lost it.

The second day we only brought down a httle game, in-
cluding a small female gazelle, without horns, and of a light
bay colour. We could not make out to what species she
belonged ; we only knew that she gave us excellent steaks.
We never met with a similar specimen.

On the third morning our men arrived with the loads we
had left at our Rombo camp. With them came six natives of
Marangu, sent to us by Miriali, with the rest of our copper
mikufu. They also brought a letter from Dr. Meyer and
Count von Eberstein, in which those two travellers told us
something of their partial ascent of Kibo.’

The endless delays caused by the difficulty of getting all
our loads forward at once suggested to us the idea of turning
our cattle to account as pack-animals. We had several strong
young bulls amongst them, but all our efforts to train them to
carry loads by putting empty saddles on their backs were
fruitless, for they simply exhausted themselves in the struggle
to get rid of the unusual incubus.

Useri was the last place from which flight was possible to
our porters, for they would not dare to go from the encamp-
ment at Kimangelia, on the threshold of Masailand. As
suggested by Jumbe Kimemeta, therefore, we secretly placed
a strong body of guards a little distance from our camp, but it
was not needed, for no one tried to escape in the night.

Glad to be quit at last of a constant anxiety, we started
again on the 22nd. The path now led in a north-westerly

1 Later, Dr. Meyer, accompanied by Herr Purtscheller, reached the summit of
Kibo (19,700 feet high), made several attempts to ascend Kimawenzi, but were finally
compelled to turn back at a height of 16,140 feet.—TRans.

ARRIVAL OF ANOTHER CARAVAN at

direction, across a monotonous tract of country, dotted here
and there with trees and bushes in increasing numbers, with
patches of recently burnt grass, which reflected the glare in a
way which had already caused us so much suffering. But
presently, to our relief, we entered a sheltered wood, where we
soon camped beneath the shade of some lofty trees rising up
like islands from the rest of the wood. This spot was a perfect
gem in its way, the trees growing, as Thomson remarked before
us, as straight as firs to a height of from 100 to 130 feet before
they put forth their wide-spreading crown of leaves, the spaces
between the trunks being so filled in with creepers, &c., that we
had to clear a space with axe and knife before we could pitch
our tents. A soft twilight reigned in this sylvan retreat, and
the air was like that of spring in Europe, for neither the rays
of the sun nor the cold south-west wind still blowing could
penetrate into it.

We were now already at a height of 4,617 feet above the
sea-level and two and a half hours’ march from Kimangelia, the
farthest outpost of Jagga, on the confines of Masailand. Our
camp was at the fork of two little swampy watercourses. It
would, of course, have been better to be nearer a village so as
to get food easily, but we always had to look out for water in
the first instance, so that our march thus far had really been
from stream to stream.

The districts north of the frontier settlement of Kimangelia
are inhabited by nomad Masai, who are unable to supply
caravans with any food worth mentioning, as they dare not own
much cattle for fear of its tempting their powerful neighbours,
so that it was necessary to get sufficient supplies here for the
twenty-five days’ journey to kKikuyuland.

Another caravan having joined ours here, we now
numbered over 450. The conditions on which we admitted
the traders and their men to our common camp were

218 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

simple enough. Count Teleki insisted on implicit obedi-
ence from all, and made it also a condition that no shooting
should be allowed as it would scare the game. We were
also to have the first pick of everything offered for sale by the
natives, and in return the traders had the protection of our
presence, and were relieved from the hongo or tribute-money,
which is very heavy in Masailand.

We needed avery considerable quantity of provisions, so we
sent Juma Mussa to Malamia, chief of Useri, with a present and
an entreaty that he would allow the opening of a big market
for us the next day.

The natives who poured in soon after our arrival told us
that there was no Masai kraal within three days’ journey, so
that we were unable to buy donkeys as we had hoped to do.
After much consultation Count Teleki decided to push on at
once himself and leave me behind to buy provisions. This
would save a lot of time as the Count would send back the
animals without returning himself.

On July 24, then, Count Teleki started with Jumbe Kime-
meta and 215 men. The 50 men left with me received enough
stuff and beads to buy a fortnight’s provisions for themselves,
and had to look after their own needs. At 7 o’clock every
morning the natives, men and women, came in, bringing
bananas, potatoes, beans, eleusine, and banana meal, and the
vast camp presented a most animated scene, the men of the
caravans converting their turbans, shirts, &c., mto sacks in
which to carry off their purchases. To keep order and prevent
thefts, these extempore sacks were weighed and marked with
a label stating name of owner and amount of contents.

Beyond the group of trees, beneath which our camp was
pitched, there was very little worth looking at; only a stretch
of dreary black scorched steppe, with nothing to relieve its
monotony but a few guinea-fowls. Now and then, however,

DESCRIPTION OF KIMAWENZI 219

Kilimanjaro revealed itself. The clouds cleared off and the
mighty mountain presented a picture of which one could never
weary. Hspecially noteworthy were the pillar-like denticula-
tions and peaks of rugged Kimawenzi. The appearance of the
saw-like outlines, as seen when looking in a north-westerly
or south-easterly direction, leave little room for doubt that
Kimawenzi is all that is left of a now extinct volcano, the north-
east side of the crater of which was cleft open to one half of its
height in a mighty eruption, so that the greater part of the
wall was broken up into huge ravines and gorges, which look
accessible from the plain. The eastern side of the summit of
Kimawenzi consists cf a perpendicular wall many thousands of
feet high, which was evidently originally the inner portion of
the crater.}

We had very little success in hunting here, but my heavy
eun brought down one rhinoceros, embedded in the thick skin
of which we found an arrow point shot by some Ndorobbo.

Under these conditions I was naturally eager for a change,
so that I was very glad when in the afternoon of the 27th
Maktubu and ninety men arrived, bringing a letter for me
from Count Teleki, from which I will give an extract here.

‘On the first day’ he said, ‘we only marched for a little
over two hours, and camped by a clear brook. On the east
the land sinks in two terraces to the plain, and the courses of
the streams are marked by dark lines of foliage, but the
country seems quite uninhabited. |

! Dr. Hans Meyez, who, with Herr Purtscheller, twice ascended Kimawenzi to
the foot of the ice-cap, 16,830 feet, being the greatest altitude reached, confirms in
almost every particular the opinion of the author. Dr. Meyer thus describes his
surroundings a this height: ‘We stood on the brink of an abysmal gulf, sur-
rounded by an array of peaks and spires and pinnacles impossible to describe; on
this, its eastern side ... the mountain sinks sheer downwards into a gigantic
cauldron, the sides of which are scarred with innumerable rugged ravines... I
was at first inclined to believe that here we had the original vent of the ancient
voleano, but I could not reconcile this supposition with the prevailing dip of the beds
of lava.’—Furst Ascent of Kilumanjaro, p. 178.

220 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

‘During the march I had seen a good deal of game of
different kind, so in the afternoon I went hunting. We were
just entering a dense thicket when a rhinoceros rushed out
upon us. He was courteous enough to announce his approach
with a snort, so that I was ready for him, but a hall from my
577 Express rifle fired at his head only brought him down for
a minute. He was up again directly, received another ball,
and rushed away. I followed him, to find him standing at the
edge of the wood, and gave him another charge in the shoulder
which made him seek the shelter of the bush. I had to go
after him there at the risk of a sudden onslaught, but I
managed to finish him off with a final shot in the neck. Two
of my balls had passed right through him.

‘Later in the day we came upon some buffaloes hidden in
an overgrown ravine near the plain. We had approached the
thicket without the sheghtest suspicion, and only when we were
some twenty paces from it did an unexpected noise warn us of
danger. The next minute we saw the bushes part, and the |
head of a buffalo with mighty horns appear. I was only able
to get a flying shot with my 500 Express rifle, which I happened
to have in my hand, and the whole herd, some twenty to thirty
strong, dashed away in the opposite direction. It was getting
dark, so that I was unable to follow up my game although
there was a very distinct blood-spoor.

‘The next day another short march brought us to Ngare
Rongai. The otherwise dreary landscape was brightened up
by the presence of quantities of game, herds of zebras and
onus springing away from our path with graceful leaps and
bounds. Without going one step out of my way I brought
down a hartebeest, a gnu, and two zebras. ‘There were many
traces of Masai here, such as footprints and small holes
made in the ground near them by the points of their spears.
Some Masai came into camp, but only old men and women,

RETURN OF MAKTUBU ior k

no warriors; and from them we learnt that we should not
come to their people in any numbers till we reached Lake
Nyiz1.

‘Malago Kanga was a good 44 hours’ march from Neare
Rongai, and we got there the next morning before noon. The
otherwise uninteresting landscape is a perfect paradise for the
hunter. Out of a herd of four zebras I passed on the march,
I shot three. The first fell on its nose as if struck by lightning,
the second tumbled backwards and died, the third made one
spring in the air before it succumbed. Later a mother rhino-
ceros and her little one crossed our path. I fired at the former
with the 577 Express at a distance of 180 paces. She stag-
gered on some 50 paces, and then sank upon her knees dead.
Her baby charged me so fiercely when I attempted to ap-
proach its mother that I could not spare it, though I should
have liked to do so. The mother had the very longest horns
I had so far seen.

‘From Malago Kanga, which means the guinea-fowl haunt,
Jumbe Kimemeta will go on with twenty men to Lake Nyiri,
whilst I shall wait here for the arrival of the rest of the cara-
van from Kimangelia.’

So far Count Teleki; now to return to Kimangelia.
Maktubu and his ninety men had done the march back from
the Count’s camp in one day, and tired as they were they
brightened us up as much as if they had mustered 900 strong.
The Zanzibar men were very proud of having come back from
dreaded Masailand, and kept their comrades up late telling
them of all manner of fabulous adventures and dangers through
which they had passed unscathed. They had had plenty of
meat too, and looked upon those who had stayed behind with
contemptuous pity, showing them some little bits of flesh they
had saved for them with an air of high and mighty condescen-
sion. It is on such occasions as this that the child-like natveté

992 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

and boastful conceit of the natives of Zanzibar are most fully
displayed.

After the men had had a day’s rest we started again, taking
with us no less than a ton and a half of food alone, consisting
chiefly of dried bananas, beans, and banana and eleusine meal.
The first day we marched past Count Teleki’s camping-place
to the Ngare Rongai, a little stream of clear water with scarcely
any channel, flowing over the grassy steppes in an easterly
direction for some thousand paces further, to disappear in the
eround, Soon after we reached camp, ten or twelve Masai
moruu came to demand the usual tribute, for though we
formed but half a caravan, we were not to escape having to
put our hands in our pockets. We asked where the moran,
or warriors, were, and were told they were away on a raid.
The same reply was given to Thomson to a similar inquiry,
and, as a matter of fact, there are so few warriors in the
dreaded Leitokiték district that they have to combine with
their kinsmen on Lake Nyiri; but the tales told of the Masai
are still quite enough to make a great impression on caravans
passing through this neighbourhood.

Our camp was perfectly without shelter at a height of about
),250 feet, and as there was a cloudy sky with a continuous
fresh south-west wind blowing we had no reason to complain
of the heat.

Our next day’s march brought us to Malago Kanga. During
the first hour the path led upwards across the dried-up beds
of two streams to the flat top of a broad ridge which has a
westerly slope and is gradually merged in the Kilimanjaro
croup. The sides of this mountain are dotted with luxuriant
vegetation, lofty trees with gleaming white stumps, form-
ing a belt at a height of from 6,550 to 6,880 feet, looking
in the distance like perpendicular walls of rock surmounted
by folage. The second portion of the march was down

nH
AN

KILIMANJARO FROM USERI.

A DREARY WILDERNESS 225

a gentle declivity and through a slightly undulating district ;
except for the increase in the number of acacias, the land grew
less and less fruitful as we advanced, the grass was sparser,
whilst the ground was everywhere strewn with volcanic
débris, &c.

Our camp was pitched on a flat stony hill, some 200 or
300 paces from a long, narrow ravine overgrown with rushes,
the side towards the mountain being shaded by acacias, pre-
senting, in the fulness of their foliage, a contrast to the miser-
able-looking trees we had passed by the way. On the west
rose a few low hills covered with black volcanic rocks, whilst
on the east the land sank, in one long terrace, to the plain
which stretched far away to the foot of the Julu chain. There
was very little grass, and that little was sear and dry; even
the reeds in the swamps were dead or trodden down by wild
animals. In the distance we could make out a few thriving
steppe plants, such as euphorbia, various kinds of succulent
bush, aloes, and two kinds of Sansiviera,’ but the ground was
everywhere sandy and bare. This dreary wilderness was, how-
ever, tenanted by a great variety of birds, including two kinds
of doves, starlings with gleaming steel-green plumage, beautiful
nutcrackers with turquoise-blue feathers, several kinds of fowls,
hawks, and vultures, marabout storks, and bustards, whilst a
little farther away roamed herds of gazelles, antelopes, rhino-
ceroses, zebras, gnus, giraffes, ostriches, and wild boars. One
night, too, we heard elephants in the swamp.

Count Teleki had, of course, not been idle during the
previous days here, and had brought down a considerable
quantity of game, including a grey tiger. He had also come
into personal relations with the Masai, many having visited
him soon after Kimemeta started for Lake Nyiri, to celebrate

1 The Sansiviera so often mentioned by the author is named after the Prince of
Sansiviero (1710-1776).—Trans.

WOW, He Q

226 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

his arrival in their land with dance and song. ‘Twice some of
the warriors had actually spent the night in his camp.

Kimemeta was very kindly received by the people living by
Lake Nyiri; they had at once killed an ox in his honour, and
declared themselves ready to sell us donkeys and cattle if we
would camp near them with our caravan.

The camping-place we now took possession of had been
tenanted for weeks or months before by another caravan, and
there was still a thorn hedge in good preservation protecting
it. The very dangerous companions one may find in deserted
camps, if they are not thoroughly cleansed to begin with, was
proved by the fact that one of our men found to his horror a
puff-adder—the largest and most poisonous snake of Africa—
under the oxhide he had slept on!

Count Teleki decided to make one more march, with part
of the caravan only this time, to Lake Nyiri, and fixed
August 1 for the start. As he was now really going into the
heart of the ill-famed Masailand, it was decided by the traders
to hold what is called a sadaka on his behalf, that is to say,
a religious ceremony to invoke the aid of God. A suitable
spot was selected outside the camp, and the two biggest
cooking-pots we had, filled with beans, were soon simmering
over a big fire. Near by a black ox with legs bound struggled
upon the ground, awaiting his executioner. At this primitive
altar knelt the traders and their men, with faces turned north-
eastward towards the grave of the Prophet, and prayed for
the Count’s happy return. Jumbe Kimemeta led the devotions,
the Koran in his hand, whilst Muyuji Hamis swung the incense,
which rose heavenward in clouds. It was, indeed, a touching
sight to see these wild children of Africa on their knees in
prayer. The proceedings were not over when a group of fifty
or sixty Masai came ‘up, and no notice being taken of their
approach by the worshippers, they squatted down in two

NOISY VISITORS 227
groups of moruu and moran, puzzled to understand what it
was all about, but at the same time unwilling to interrupt.

Though the Masai had brought two oxen and a goat with
them, and were evidently quite well disposed towards us,
Kimemeta addressed them indignantly, asking them why they
had brought no donkeys and had come empty-handed, so that
the moruu soon looked quite crestfallen. Meanwhile the moran,
guessing from Kimemeta’s raised tones that he was out of
humour, thought they would mollify him by a little singing
and dancing, so they treated us to an African quadrille, accom-
panied by a song, beginning the performance by springing into
the air with limbs held rigid, whilst they swayed their heads
up and down, so that their long twists of hair were tossed over
the forehead and back again. ‘Then forming in a long line as
before described, they threaded the further mazes of the dance.

The division of the tribute then took place, occupying
several hours, and it was not until the evening that the tiring
business was over. ‘The coolness of the evening air, however,
now drew our visitors to the camp fires, where they took the
best places, driving away our men, who looked cross enough,
though they did not venture to resist. We therefore politely
asked them if they would mind camping outside the hedge,
upon which, without the slightest hesitation, they demanded
fuel of our porters, as of course they, too, must have fires.
Next they stuck their spears in the ground just outside Count
Teleki’s tent, and finally took themselves off. They never
ceased talking and singing till cock-crow the next morning,
and not one of them went to sleep.

On the morning of August 1 Count Teleki started again
with the same men as before, leaving me behind. Our visitors
all soon followed him, as did one of the oxen they had presented,
a half-wild creature, which had nearly tossed everyone who

approached him, had sprung over the hedge into the midst of
| Q 2

228 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

a croup of men, and had finally run off in the direction of the
departing caravan.

The Count had brought down a lot of game here, so I
thought I would see what I could do, as the more we husbanded
our food the better. I also wanted to examine the neighbour-
hood earefully, especially a beautiful part Count Teleki had
pointed out to me. This was a district where the base of
Kilimanjaro melts into the plain, which is richly provided
with springs formine narrow streaks of water along the
mountain foot, and probably connected with Lake Nyiri, that
sheet of water being fed by springs only, not by tributary
streams. The fresh green of the turf and the thick foliage of
the acacias near the springs were in marked contrast to the
barren wilderness around them, but, strange to say, this charm-
ing spot was quite deserted by wild animals, the grass not being
trodden down at all.

I was fairly successful with my hunting, and though much
of the game escaped me, I brought down two eland antelopes,
two zebras, and one gazelle Thomsoni. I shot the zebras near
the camp, on my way back. A herd of some two hundred
zebras had dashed in mad flight from behind a hill right across
our path without noticing us; but we had heard the stamping
of their hoofs and were prepared for them. The sudden shot
close to them made them all wild with terror. The foremost of
them backed upon the rest, throwing them into the greatest
confusion ; foramoment they formed one palpitating, quivering
mass, then they veered to the right and fled, leaving one of
their number dead, a second writhing in agony upon the
eround, whilst a third Lmped into the bush with a broken
hind leg. I had to fire again at the wounded animal on the
eround, as it bit and tore too fiercely for me to be able to
finish it with the knife. For this second shot I used the gun
of one of my men, first making sure that it was fully loaded. It

A HEARTY WELCOME 229

was indeed, as I found to my cost, for it was loaded not only
with ball but with shot, as if it had been acannon. The recoil
was such that sight and hearing left me, and, fearing my collar-
bone was broken, | put my hand up to my shoulder. I now
understood how it is that negroes never aim successfully, and
I resolved never again to use one of their weapons

Early next morning the men arrived, sent back by Count
Teleki from Lake Nyiri, and as it was evidently only four hours’
march off, I started at once.

The scenery was very much the same as before—dreary
plains strewn with volcanic boulders, debris, ashes, &c., whilst
a strong south-east wind laden with brick-red dust blew con-
tinuously and distressed us greatly. Not until we were close
to the acacias, rushes, and papyrus fringing the shores of the
lake did the conditions change. _

Close to the water were our tents, and amongst our own
men we could see hundreds of natives of both sexes and all
ages. ‘The greatest harmony evidently prevailed, and we soon
received a most hearty welcome, men and women, young girls,
and even the little children gathering about us, greeting us with
a friendly ‘ Leibon sobaj’ or ‘ Leibon tagwenja,’ all trying to shake
my very dusty and dirty right hand at once. Count Teleki
was absent for the moment, but soon tokens of his activity
arrived in the form of great joints of buffalo carried in on
poles, and immediately afterwards he appeared himself; he was
followed by anumber of moran, who had taken part in the hunt.

The day before Count Teleki had shot one gnu and two
Mpala antelopes. The former differed from other animals of
the same kind in having a perfectly snow-white mane, that of
most gnus consisting of alternate tufts of white and black hair.
To-day he had killed two buffaloes, and a hot chase they had
given him; but before I relate his adventures I must describe
the scene in which they took place.

230 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

By the side of Lake Nyiri stretches a sandy, perfectly flat
plain, on the salt-impreenated soil of which no grass and but a
few acacias can grow, though here and there are dense thickets
of a kind of bush with fleshy pointed leaves, growing to a
height exceeding that of a man. These bush-thickets are a
favourite resort of buffaloes, which remain absolutely concealed
in them, the sandy soil deadening the noise they make, whilst
the hunter has no cover at all and is exposed to very great
danger.

The shores of Lake Nyiri are a favourite haunt of buffaloes,
and the ground is completely covered with their spoors. The
Count had scarcely left the camp before he came upon a solitary
old bull, deserted by his herd, and ready, as 1s so often the
case with such lonely animals, to charge the imtruder without
provocation.

‘When,’ said Count Teleki, ‘I looked round for my reserve
weapons I found all my men had taken to their heels except
Kharscho, who had come with me instead of Mahommed, then
invalided. They had been very nervous and had held back
from the first, and when they saw the buffalo they disappeared
altogether. Kharscho, however, was all eager for the chase;
his eyes shone, and he showed not a sign of fear. With such
a companion, who will coolly hand you your weapons just at
the right moment, one may be a bit venturesome. The buffalo
had already scented danger, but he had not yet seen me, so I
waited a moment till he moved into a more favourable position
and then fired my 577 Express at his shoulder. When the
smoke cleared away the buffalo was gone, but there were great
stains of blood on the ght green bushes through which the
wounded animal had dashed. We followed these traces, and
came upon a herd of more than a hundred buffaloes, which
had been hidden in the thicket quite close to us. Alarmed by
my shot, they were trampling hither and thither. I fired again,

A SUCCESSFUL BUFFALO HUNT DAS |

breaking a couple of the ribs of one animal which had its flank
towards me and the hind lee of another, whilst a cow, struck
in the shoulder, fell down bellowing loudly, only, however, to
be up again directly. Then there was a reeular stampede, and
I was in the greatest danger of being trampled down, especially
as I had used all the ammunition I had with me.

‘But where was Kharscho? The zealous fellow, carried away
by the ardour of the chase, instead of keeping close to me, had
gone off on his own account, and was very likely in a worse
position than I was. Fortunately, however, he soon appeared
with the rest of my men and we were able to follow up my
game. First at a distance of some hundred paces we came
upon a bull still standing, but bleeding profusely. I fired at
him four times as he fled from us, and he only succumbed at
the last shot, which broke his spine. He was still alive even
now, but he could not get up, so I thought it a good opportu-
nity for experimental shots. Two shots from the 500 Express
at close quarters just between the horns on the forehead had
no result, nor had a bullet from the 8-bore, except that the
buffalo’s head drooped for a moment, to be raised again the
next. I finally despatched him with a shot in the shoulder.

‘The sound of so many shots attracted a number of Masai
warriors, and promising them the skins of any further buffaloes
we brought down, I got them to help us, and with their aid
as guides we soon came upon a suffering cow lying in a
thicket. A couple of flying shots from me brought her to her
feet. Again and again she fell upon her haunches, but she
was always able to get up and struggle on though with
ever slower steps. Seeing this, the moran hurried up to
despatch her with their spears, but even when she could no
longer stir from the spot, she bellowed fiercely at her
tormentors. Again and again the spears rebounded from the
tough hide; one was broken, another was bent, but not one

232, THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

went home, so I gave her the coup de grdce by a shot in the
throat.’

The Masai, who came into our camp here by hundreds
every day, resembled in every particular those described in a
previous chapter. Everything went on so peacefully here that we
might have been still in Taveta. The married men, or moruu,
superintended the sale of cattle and donkeys, whilst the women
brought half-dressed ox-hides and strips of leather, which are
generally much in demand with caravans, and also fuel, for
the Zanzibar dearly love to give themselves airs and be waited
on. Even the children made themselves usefulin httle things,
such as fetching water. It was only the idle moran with their
dittos, as they call their sweethearts, who bothered us by their
curiosity, wanting to touch everything they saw. Whenever
we sat down to a meal we might be sure of a circle of natives
at least three deep, to stare at us, for, as in European mena-
ceries, ‘ feeding time’ is the most attractive moment of the day.
All our food and everything we used, knives, spoons, forks,
must be examined. Everything liquid was to them ngaro
(water) or nazscho (honey); they had no third term to use, and
we rather fell in with this idea, for to every question they put
to us we answered Eh (yes). Some of the moran went so far as
to feel our plates and glasses with their dirty fingers, when
they would have to reckon with our ape Hamis, who objected
to the dusky crowds even more than we did. But we, too,
were sometimes driven to the shelter of our tents to take our
meals.

Far worse than anything else about the Masai were the
swarms of flies, very like the house flies of Europe, with which
they were all covered, especially the women. They clustered
in thousands on the grease-smeared heads and necks, in the
eyes, the nostrils, and on the lips. On this account, nearly
every man carried a brush made of the tail of a gnu, or, failing

BRUSH FOR REMOVING FLIES

MORUO WITH

MASAI

A

A DANGEROUS MOMENT 235

that, uses a bunch of leaves. If the flies of Masailand were
_as lively as those at home, the country would be a very hell,
but fortunately they are content to bide perfectly quiet.

The next morning Count Teleki devoted to hunting, and
very nearly met with a serious accident. He went with his
usual followers and a few Masai to follow the spoors of the other
buffaloes he had wounded. Now this following up of wounded
buffaloes is a most dangerous operation, as they are always
extremely fierce, and charge everyone they see at once.’

The traces of the hunt of the day before were very soon
found, including the spoor of an animal which was apparently
wounded in one of the hind legs, the hmping gait being quite
clearly marked in the sand. As the day before, the people all
lingered behind, even Maktubu, whom the Count generally
relied on in buffalo hunting, and soon only Kharscho and one
moran remained with the leader. The brave warrior stalked
on in front, with his spear uplifted, ready to fling it. To him
was assigned the task of noting everything about him, whilst
the Count and Kharscho followed the spoor, which was now
and then lost amongst the many footprints. This one led in
and out amongst the bushes, now to the right, now to the left,
now back again, and presently the incorrigible Kharscho
went off again. Count Teleki had just realised that he was
alone with the Masai, when the latter gave a cry of warn-
ing and fled. A hundred paces only from the Count was a
buffalo charging full upon him. What was to be done? To
take refuge in the thicket would be fatal, for the buffalo would
be invisible, and might charge him in the rear. The only
chance was to go to meet it in the open, and this the Count
fortunately decided to do, for nothing else could have saved
him. With the long strides of desperation he advanced

1 It was probably near here that, a year and a half after our visit, the bold
sportsman, the Hon. Guy Dawney, was killed by a buffalo.

236 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

upon the buffalo, and only when the latter lowered its horns
for a toss did he spring aside and fire, fortunately striking the
animal in the neck. With the death-rattle in its throat it
rolled at his feet.

Count Teleki waited a long time for his people, who did
not appear until they heard him shouting for them. ‘They all
knew the terrible danger he had run, and, hearing one shot
only, succeeded by absolute silence, they had jumped to the con-
clusion that he had met his end. It was touching to see their
delight when they found their mistake. Led by the moran
they gathered about him, shaking his hand and feeling his arms
and legs to make sure that he was unhurt; then, after dancing
round him in mad glee, they fell with wild shouts upon the
buffalo

and spears.

a well-grown cow—and cut her up with their knives

Meanwhile the daily life of the caravan went on quietly
enough. We bought ten grey donkeys, nine oxen, and a great
many goats—more than we thought we should be able to get.
The fact is there is always a scarcity of pack animals in Masai-
land, and of late so much cattle had been lost through disease,
that oxen are becoming very difficult to get. In some parts,
indeed, the natives are already suffering from famine on this
account, and are beginning seriously to devote their attention
to the breeding of sheep, which were formerly held in quite
secondary esteem.

We started again on the morning of August 4, the whole
caravan being now able to advance together, loads and all, so
that we should have no more weary waiting in detachments.
As we left our camp we noticed for the first time what
an immense number of vultures, kites, and marabout storks
the remains of our feasts had attracted. As long as the
camp was occupied they had remained in the branches of the
neighbouring trees, but as soon as they saw us leaving they

NT KA
. ‘ih

Hae
a

\\
\\
ww

\
\

y

NYIRI.

LAKE

BUFFALO NEAR

HUNTING THE

——_

ALONG LAKE NYIRI

flew down in hundreds, and even
before the rear-cuard had left
fell upon the débris. Many of
them also followed our caravan
for a considerable distance.

We marched but little over
two hours this morning, keeping
alongside Lake Nyiri, though we
could rarely see it on account of
the quantities of papyrus and
rushes encumbering its banks.
The path led for the greater part
of the distance across a sandy or
ash-strewn district, considerably
overgrown with heht green bush,
but for one half hour we had to
toil over a bit of ground strewn
with rugged, sharp-edged rocks,
beyond which we camped.

We were visited by very few
natives, aS We were now a con-
siderable distance from a kraal
or bumba. So far we had not
seen any Masai village at all.
Here, for the first time, a Masai
seemed anxious to pick a quarrel
with us. An old man who had
come two days’ journey to see us
flung back the present we offered
him, and declared that our march
would lead us through his district,
but he would not allow us to pass
as we had sick cattle with us.

iS)
(Sp)

MASIMANI.

LAKE NYIRI AND

BETWEEN

240 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

This seemed such a very justifiable reason for refusing right
of way that Count Teleki had five oxen killed. True enough,
everyone of them had the lunes more or less diseased, and we
had to reassure the old man by promising to have all the rest
of the cattle slaughtered the next day.

The Masai are of opinion that the murrain from which oxen
have been suffering for the last ten or twelve years was intro-
duced by an ox which had been stolen from Samburaland.
The disease, which seems to be rapidly spreading and in some
Masai districts is universal, threatens the very existence of the
people, who, as before stated, can think of no mitigation but
the breeding of sheep.

On August 5 we left the shores of Lake Nyiri, which a
little beyond our camp made a bend northward, and pursued
our journey in a westerly direction, entering a level tract of
country with many low, outlying spurs of Kilimanjaro on
our right. We camped after 34 hours’ march at the foot of
one of these hills near a reedy pool, at a place called Masimani,
or near the water pool—the pool, the water of which was
sweet and good, being in a low channel some 500 paces long
by from 5 to 50 wide. From the hills near by a view could
be obtained of a vast steppe stretching away on the north of
Kilimanjaro, which from this point does not look anything like
so imposing as from the south, although we were there but a
little higher up, the altitude of the camp being about 1,240 feet.
The slope of Kilimanjaro is very slight at first, only becoming
really steep at a considerable height. At the base, especially
on the northern side, are numerous cone-shaped hills, most of
them with crater-like summits. The ice-capped Kibo, it is
true, looks grand, but its real height would be underrated there,
whilst Kimawenzi seems but an insignificant hump. ‘There
is a belt of forest on the northern side of Kilimanjaro, but the
mountain slopes give one the impression of barrenness, and

A NATURAL CISTERN QAL

are dotted with nothing but dry yellow steppe erass. Not a
stream flows from this northern side, and it would appear that
all the water sinks through the ashes, reappearing at the base
of the mountain only in the form of pools.

Far away on the south-west we could see Mount Meru
rismg up like a dark blue pyramid flanked by lower heights,
amongst which was conspicuous the rocky peak of Neaptuk,
over 6,000 feet high, and the equally lofty mass of the Doenye
Erok la Matumbato, looming forth like a dusky rampart, whilst
on the north-east and east the horizon is bounded by the lower
Ulu and Julu ranges.

Between us and them stretched a barren and almost level
sandy plain, which glowed im the heat of the sun. Whole
tracts were strewn with snow-white natron, and none of the
atmospheric deceptions so frequent in these parts were needed
to produce the effect of a landscape dotted with ponds and
lakes. There is, indeed, no doubt that we have here the old
bed of a large lake of which Lake Nyiri and the various pools
are all that is now left.

In the afternoon Count Teleki went hunting in the direc-
tion of the base of Kilimanjaro, where the dense thickets
of bush harboured large herds of buffaloes. Remembering
the danger which he had incurred near Lake Nyiri, he took
care this time to have the game driven into the open by
his Somal and the Masai moran, and by this means he
wounded two bulls so severely that they fell to the ground
at once, but they were soon up again, and taking refuge in
the thicket escaped, although they were followed for a long
time.

Our next march, of an hour and a half only, brought us to
a natural cistern in a volcanic rock in the midst of the barren
steppe. Though the water looked clear it had a horrible
smell, and was scarcely fit to drink. Boiling it somewhat

VOL. I. R

242 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

lessened the disagreeable odour, but it still tasted strongly of
salt and of decaying vegetation.

‘The march here had been across a salt-strewn steppe over-
erown with succulent bush and two kinds of grass, one resem-
bling coarse swamp grass, the other looking like soft green
sward, but with stiff stems ending in sharp needle-like points
which hurt the feet of our men. Even where this grass grew
the ground was covered with a layer of salt, and we scrunched
it under our feet with a noise like that made by hard, frozen
snow. A row of hght green acacias, forming a regular
avenue, were the only trees we passed, and bore witness to
the presence of an underground stream. There was plenty of
game about, so Count Teleki and his Masai friends made a
detour for hunting whilst the caravan pressed straight on, joining
us again a few hours later, bringing three gnus and one zebra.

From the top of a low, flat hill we could make out at a
distance of some 2,000 yards from the camp two large ponds,
one on the north, the other on the west. From the latter rose
clouds of smoke, bearing witness to the presence of natives,
and we learnt that there were two Masai kraals or bumbas
beside it. Beyond stretched a forest extending to the base of
a low range of heights on the west.

It is now time to describe, with some detail, the noble race
of the Masai through whose country we were now passing.
They call themselves Ol-Masai, and are by far the most inter-
esting and most powerful people with whom we came in con-
tact in our journey of exploration. Even the uninitiated must
be struck with the immense difference between them and the
negro tribes dwelling on the south of their dominions; and as
a matter of fact they are quite unconnected with the negro
family. Whilst the negroes belong to the great Bantu’ stock,

1 The word Bantu is used by Bleek as a general term for those African
languages in which the prefix is used in declination and conjugation. With this

ACCOUNT OF THE MASAI 243

the Masai form the most southerly group of the Nilotic tribes,
extending far away to the north, and are, so to speak, wedged
in amongst the Bantu tribes and the people of Kamasia, Suk,
Turkana, Karamoyo, and Lango, form a connecting link with
the Shilluks and Bari.

The districts occupied by the Masai extend on the south
as far as 8. lat. 6°, and are bounded on the east first by the
Upper Pangani, then by the Lederick or Kibonoto river, beyond
which the frontier line skirts round the northern base of Kaili-

WATER-HOLE AT MASIMANI.

manjaro to Kimangelia, whence it extends from Ngongo Bagas
and the western boundary of Kikuyuland to the western base of
Mount Kenia. The northern boundary may be said to extend
from about the junction of the Guaso Narok with the Guaso
Nyiro in a south-westerly direction, the extent of territory
owned by the Masai on the west being undefined, though it
may be roughly said to coincide with 35° 40” E. long.

construction are, however, associated certain special racial peculiarities, so that the
name has come to include a whole ethnographical group.

244 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

Masailand is divided into districts, and these in their
turn into sub-districts. The most southerly province is
Kibaya; that dominated by Mounts Meru and Kilimanjaro
is Sigirari, subdivisions of which are Leitokit6k and Nyiri.
Sigirari is bounded on the north by Matumbato, beyond which
is Kapotei with Dogilani on the west. The country north of
Lake Naivasha is called Kinangop, whilst the highlands west
of Kenia are known as Leikipia.

The Masai are pre-eminently a pastoral people; as a rule,
confining their wanderings in search of fresh pastures for their
cattle to their own districts. They cling devotedly to their
own customs, and have maintained the purity of their race,
allowing no inter-marrying with other tribes. There is nothing
of the negro type in their appearance. They are slender and
tall, above the medium height, but they are not particularly mus-
cular. They have clear chocolate-brown complexions, pointed
prominent chins, noses narrower than those of the negroes,
thin lips and oval-shaped eyes with an upward slant. Their
hair is frizzy, but it is thmner and much finer than that
of the negro. ‘Their limbs are beautifully formed and
developed, their feet and hands remarkably small. The ex-
pression of some of the younger men is almost feminine in its
gentleness, and regular features are more common amongst the
males than the females, the profiles of the latter approaching
much more nearly to the negro type. Moreover their hair is
coarser and their complexion often a shade darker than that
of their brothers. Some of the quite young unmarried girls
are however charming enough, but they soon degenerate into
poor wrinkled, shrivelled-looking creatures, whilst the men
retain to old age their noble aristocratic appearance.

Little children of both sexes amongst the Masai are called
—ngerai; a young boy is a dajon, who as he grows older becomes
a barnoti. A barnoti turns in due course into a moran or

DISTINCTIVE APPELLATIONS OF MASAI 245

warrior, who develops into a moruo or married man. A young
unmarried girl is a doze, the plural of which is ditto; a married
woman is a sjangiki, an old woman a gogo, and a very old one a
gogo olay.

Boys between twelve and fourteen years old undergo the
rite of circumcision, after which they go with their fellow-
sufferers to the woods for
two or three weeks, where
they shoot little birds with
bows and arrows. ‘The
doje does not escape
an operation of a similar
kid ~ 0 ~ circumcision,
after which she goes into
the world, so to speak;
in other words she leads
a free life in the warrior
camp for a few years,
when she is married, that
is to say, sold to a hus-
band. It is the custom
of the country for the
married and unmarried
to live in separate kraals.
If we had paid a visit to
the two bumbas or kraals
hear our camp at Masi-

A MASAI BARNOTI, OR YOUNG BOY.

mani, we should have

found in them only old married men, women, and little children,

the young people living in villages of their own, known as the

bumba a moran, often several days’ journey from their parents.
When a barnoti is fifteen or sixteen years old, he becomes

a moran or warrior. Hitherto he has lived with his parents

246 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

and younger brothers and sisters, eating meat and vegetables,
and drinking milk. All is now changed. The moran must
live on meat or milk alone, but must not take them together.
Other travellers relate that a purgative is taken to remove all
traces of milk from the stomach before meat is eaten, but this
we did not ourselves verify. Even now a moran must not eat
‘the flesh of a wild animal, and vegetables, honey, beer, &c., are
also strictly forbidden. He must not smoke or take snuff, and
would sooner eat his own cow-hide sandals than touch any of the
prohibited luxuries. Ona long journey, however, he is allowed
to make one exception in favour of the gum of the acacia,
which the Masai chew. The meals of the moran consist of
lightly cooked or boiled meat, or of fresh and clotted milk.
They look upon cooking milk as a crime, not lking even
strangers to do it, so that they are very unwilling to sell milk.

They add a certain bark to the. liquid in which the meat
is cooked, which dyes it red, and this broth they drink. They
take their meals in retirement,' and can eat an enormous
quantity at one time.

The appearance of the young moran is now as completely
changed as his mode of life. He receives from his father a
spear with a blade nearly three feet long, a large elliptical
shield of buffalo hide with the heraldic device of the district on
the outside, in white, red, or black, a lone straight sword, and
a club made of heavy wood as hard as iron, or of rhinoceros
horn. Firearms have not yet been introduced to Masailand, and
it is only rarely that bows and arrows are used instead of spears.

1 Thomson says, @ propos of the meals of the moran: ‘He must not be seen
eating meat in the kraal, neither must he take it along with milk ... so many
days were devoted entirely to the drinking of new milk, and then, when carnivorous
longings came over him, he had to retire with a bullock to a lonely place in the
forest, accompanied by some of his comrades, and a ditto to act as cook . . . they
killed the bullock ... then opened a vein and drank the blood fresh from the

animal . . . this sanguinary draught concluded, they proceeded to gorge themselves
on the flesh.’— Through Masailand, pp. 251-252.

A MASAI EXODUS IAT

We shall learn later where these weapons are fashioned, for
they are none of them of home manufacture.

Thus equipped, the young moran goes to the warrior kraal
of his district, where amongst his comrades and the ditto or
unmarried sweethearts he leads for a time a life of free love.!
Although this is the custom of his country, he has to beware of
certain consequences which may ensue.

Now that he has come to man’s estate the moran is bold,
conceited, easily excited, and fond of thieving. His greatest
desire is to dip his spear in blood, if it be only in that of some
stray, half-starved porter, whilst his chief duty is to protect his
district, and on this account the warrior kraals are situated
near the most exposed portions of each division of Masai-
land.

A Masai kraal consists of an outer circle of huts, looking
like brown cardboard honeycombs, varying in height from
about three and a half to six feet, by nine or twelve feet in
diameter. In the open space within this circle are a few
smaller shelters for young calves and kids. The population of
the kraal varies greatly in number, and some of them contain
more than a thousand souls. When a change of pasture is
necessary for the cattle, the framework of the huts is often
taken up and, with the few milk-bowls, straw mats, calabashes,
smoke-dried oxhides, and other household goods, packed on the
donkeys and draught oxen or carried by the women. The
exodus begins, and when fresh grazing grounds are reached
the women have to rebuild the bumba.

The moran kraal differs from that of the moruu in having

1 We did not ourselves see anything of the severe treatment of an unmarried
girl about to become a mother, in the warrior kraal, alluded to by Thomson.
Her lover would have to pay her father the fine of an ox, a goat, a sheep, and eight
pots of honey, but it is not likely that a native of Africa would put his daughter to
death for a slip from virtue, as she is to him merely a marketable article. What
Thomson says, however, with regard to the preventive measures taken, was fully
borne out by what we learnt.

248 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

no fence.’ Cattle-stealing is the chief occupation of the
warriors, and their raids often take them long distances from
their own land. A frequent distraction to the monotony of
their lives is to throw trading caravans into a state of terror
with a view to making the leaders more ready to part with
their goods.

Order is maintained in the kraal by the Lygonani, an old
married man chosen by election, who is the leader in battle,
the spokesman in council and in discussions about tribute. If
a number of kraals combine to make a raid, the leadership is
confided to a Lygonani chosen in the same way.” The Lygonani
of Sigirari is a kind of headman of the whole of Masailand.
There are also district Leibons or medicine-men, and one head
Masai medicine-man, whose name is Mbatian, and who is held
in the very highest esteem, his skill having made him the
richest man in the country. He lives on the Negare naerobi,
on the north-west slope of Kilimanjaro, and, according to W.
Astor Chanler, he is very old and half blind, having a great
dread of Europeans, not one of whom has yet succeeded in
seeing him.

Married men or moruu take no part in raids. The prepara-
tions of the warriors for such expeditions generally last for a
long time, and consist in gorging themselves with flesh and
blood, and in sending an envoy to Mbatian to ask for advice
and war medicine. This preparation time is called ndorossz,
and its length depends on the importance of the raid; 1t some-
times lasts several months, and is spent in the retirement of the
woods, no intercourse with the outside world being allowed.
The idea is that the flesh and blood of the oxen consumed will
imbue the moran with strength and courage.

1 Thomson tells us this is to train the young warriors in watchfulness and
c ourage.——T'RANS.

* Thomson says the warrior elected by a number of kraals is called the Lytwnw,
to distinguish him from the Lygonani, who is the leader of one kraal only.—TRANs.

WAR

COSTUME OF MASAI MORAN 249

There is really more pretension and impudence behind the

self-consciousness of the moran than real courage, and they

owe much of the dread in which they are held to their effective

getup. The short
mantle of brown-
haired kid - skin,
which he generally
wears fastened on
the right shoulder,
is twisted into a
girdle and _ trans-
ferred to his waist.
He leaves some of
his gala ornaments
at home, substitut-
ing for them an iron
bell worn above the
knee.

His head and
shoulders and also
his spear are pro-
fusely smeared with
red grease, which
makes him look as
if he were dripping
with blood. Below
the knee he fastens
a strip of colubus
skin, which, with

MASAI MORAN IN WAR ARRAY.

the long white hair still on it, stands away from the legs in
front. Round his neck is tied the naibere, which consists, as
already stated, of a long piece of white cotton with a stripe
of coloured stuff sewn in the middle This flows straight down

250 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

his back, and is supplemented by a deep collar or cape
of black vultures’ feathers, whilst his face is framed in an
extraordinary head-dress of ostrich feathers stuck in a band
of leather. Thus adorned he dashes on with diabolical cries,
his shield in his left hand and in the right his uplifted spear.
Such an apparition strikes terror into the hearts of the natives,
and at its approach they flee without coming to blows at all.
But those who see in a Masai moran only a fantastically got-up
savage have really no cause for fear.

When a moran has had enough of life in the warrior kraal,
or when his father dies and he becomes his heir, he marries
and settles down into a moruo. He buys as many wives as his
stock of cattle will permit, for he does not marry for love, but
to secure servants to work for him. He lays aside the manners
of a warrior, and becomes a quiet and peaceful member of
society. An outward sign of the inward change which has
come over him is the wearing of a huge spiral ear ornament
made of thick brass wire. His fine long spear and beautiful
shield he perhaps gives to his younger brother, or he changes
each for a cow, for every weapon a Moran has used is worth a
cow to any of his brothers. He himself is henceforth content
with a common spear, or with a bow and arrow. He may now
indulge in a varied diet, and can eat beans, bananas from
Kikuyu or Kilimanjaro, drink beer, and smoke tobacco or
chew it mixed with natron salt, called makate. He may also
eat other meat than beef, but he does not care for it much.

The Masai bore the ear-lobes and stretch them out as far as
possible, beginning their cultivation quite early in hfe. Some-
times, too, they break off one or two of the incisor teeth. Gurls
are often tattooed about the body and breast, deep wounds
being inflicted in the process.

The hair is all carefully removed except from the head.
Young Masai, especially the women, cling to the kid-skin

MASAI MODE OF SALUTATION 251

garments their parents wore before them, only some of the elder
men wrap themselves in cotton. Their favourite ornaments are
thick iron wire and thin iron chains, and girls and women so
cover their armsand legs with thick wire that they look as if they
were in armour. In southern Masailand they also wear a flat
neck ornament made of spiral iron wire. These heavy decora-
tions cannot readily be
taken off; they give their
wearers an extraordinary

appearance, and make
walking difficult to them.

The only actual garments

the girls wear are leather

aprons, which reach from
the waist to the knees; the

bosom is left bare, at least

a

all of it not covered with

nH
|

iron chains, strings of

vii

beads, and so on.
Masai men greet each

other by holding out the

right hand and saying

schore or schorelay sobaj

(@riend, or my friend, |

greet you’), to which the

= S55

leis . :
eee DEPhy TS ebay . Girls MASAI NECK ORNAMENT MASAI EAR
and women never speak WORN BY WOMEN. ORNAMENT.

first, but must be addressed

as doje or sjangike (maiden or matron) before they can reply, and
they never offer their hand till asked for it, but merely reply
ako or more rarely tagwenja. If you want them to give you
their hand, you must ask for it by saying holele. Spitting
hiehtly on the face or hands is a sign amongst the Masai, as,

4

252 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

indeed, amongst nearly all the people in the districts we visited,
of friendship and goodwill.

I have not half exhausted the manners and customs of this
interesting people, but I must not longer delay my narrative ;
other characteristics will, however, be noticed in the course
of it.

We should come to no more water till we got to the some-
what distant Doenye Erok la Matumbato, which trading caravans
generally take two days to reach from here. We resumed our

y

/
example. Unfortunately, we had to leave one of our men

march at ten o’clock on August 7, intending to follow their
behind, as he was ill with fever and quite insensible. We gave
him into the care of the Masai, paying for his keep in advance
with an axe, and they promised to look after him till he was
well enough to join some passing caravan.

Our route led us at first across a flat, sandy steppe, here and
there strewn with salt. We then came to a second large pool,
the water of which, after the horrible stuff we had had to drink
during the last twenty-four hours, seemed to us delicious. We
could not imagine why Jumbe Kimemeta would not let us camp
here, but when we asked him he gave the usual answer, ‘ dastiuri,
bwana’ (¢ It is such a bad place, master’). When our people
had filled their calabashes we pressed on, in the heat of the mid-
day sun, across the gleaming white wilderness, our eyes feasting
again and again on what in the deceptive atmosphere looked
like beautiful lakes. After another two hours’ tramp, during
which we noted the change from volcanic to metamorphic
formations, we reached two little rugged hills of metamorphic
rock rising up like islands from the desert, beyond which the
eround became more undulating, and we began steadily to
ascend.

A little before sunset we halted for the night, alas! to our
dismay, where there was scarcely a blade of grass to be seen

“ONIONVG SLUVAHLYAMS HO SOLLIG VITHL GNV NVUON

MASAI SONGS AND DANCES 255

and not a drop of water to be had for our weary and thirsty
men, so that the camp was soon wrapped in silence.

At the first gleam of dawn the next morning we were off
again, reaching in less than an hour anda half a shallow grass-
erown channel, the end of the swampy mouth of the Ngare na
lalla, or Ngare Manga (both names meaning broad water), a
short, sluggish stream flowing from the Doenye Erok. After
our men had quenched their thirst with the muddy water, we
pressed on, waded across a reed-encumbered arm of the stream,
followed its course on the other side for a short distance, and
camped. We were now at the foot of the steep hill first
mentioned, at a height of about 4,120 feet, in a densely populated
portion of the Masai district Matumbato, where we might hope
to buy plenty of cattle. We therefore decided to halt here for
two whole days, which would also give our overladen donkeys
time to recruit their exhausted strength.

Natives soon appeared in considerable numbers, and we
found we could get cattle, but not donkeys. The business of
purchasing was given over to Jumbe Kimemeta and Qualla,
which left us free to hunt. The moran and their inseparable
dittos or sweethearts stood about our tents at a respectful
distance, made no attempt to beg, and gave us no trouble at
all. They watched us at our work of taking astronomical
observations, writing up our journals, and so on, and when they
got tired of that they went outside the camp and amused
themselves with singing and dancing.

The Masai have a good many songs suitable for different
occasions, and though they are not a bit more melodious than
those of other coloured races, they are quite unlike them.
Some dances are performed by warriors only, others by them
and the dittos together. The natives here allowed me to
photograph them without taking any notice of what I was
doing.

256 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

The neighbourhood of Doenye Erok is a regular zoological
garden. The steep slopes, especially near the base of the
mountain, are clothed with luxuriant vegetation, chiefly acacias,
the nickname of erok, or black, originating in the dark colour
of the foliage. Moreover, the trees stand well apart and without
the dense undergrowth usual in tropical Africa, and amongst
them roam countless Mpala antelopes and a kind of wild
dog. But for the sound of their footsteps and the occasional
cry of a small hornbill
with a slender red bill
and mottled dark - green
feathers, absolute silence
reigned. We liked go-
ing to this wood just to
watch the wild creatures
in it.

The bush - grown
steppe beyond the moun-
tain was tenanted by
humerous rhinoceroses,
giraffes, zebras, wild

boars, gnus, gazelles,
ostriches, .» bastards:

HORNS OF GAZELLE (SPECIES UNKNOWN).

eulnea-fowls, and part-
ridges. In half an hour’s walk Count Teleki wounded four
zebras, but he lost them all, as he had gone out alone, and did
not like to go too far fromthe camp. When close home he also
brought down an antelope of the size and shape and with the
horns of a gazelle, but of the brownish-red colour of a European
stag, with white hair on the abdomen. The following day he
shot a rhinoceros and a wild boar, having seen two other
rhinoceroses, The next afternoon the Count hunted along the
eastern base of the mountain, where he was much hindered by

MY FIRST GIRAFFES | 257

the numerous deep water-channels, mostly with perpendicular
sides hollowed out of the laterite soil. He brought down, how-
ever, five Mpala antelopes and one gazelle Thomsoni. Whilst
cutting up some of his game Count Teleki told two of his men
to follow the course of one of these streams and try and find a
suitable crossing-place. They came back almost directly with
the news that they had come upon a lion tearing a zebra to
pieces. The Count hastened at once to the spot and found
the headless corpse of the zebra, but the lon was gone. His
footprints could be clearly seen, however, and were promptly
followed up. They led to a portion of one of the ravines over
which the lion had evidently sprung, dropping his booty how-
ever, for the zebra’s head lay on this side. The stream where
the lion took his leap was nearly 11 yards broad by some 22
deep, and the sides were quite perpendicular.

The second afternoon of our stay here I, too, went hunt-
ting, choosing the direction of the wood, as, whether I was
lucky as a sportsman or not, I was sure of plenty to interest
me. And for a long time I watched the various creatures,
coming close now to a mother antelope with her young,
now to a pair of antelopes, without any idea of spoiling the idyll
with a shot. I did not give hunting a thought till a great
yellowish-brown creature suddenly came in sight at a distance
of some eighty paces.

It was a giraffe, but I was so taken by surprise at seeing
it so near to me, and so far from the steppes these shy
creatures generally haunt, that I could not at first beheve my
eyes. I crept cautiously nearer so as to get a good view of the
body and choose the best point at which to aim. The giraffe,
a splendid full-crown male, did not budge, but went on feeding
on the tender topmost leaves of an acacia, without the slightest
suspicion of danger. Never had I had a chance before of any-
thing but a flying shot at one of these noble animals, and my

WOE. IE S

258 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

heart beat lke that of some cockney sportsman. All the
hunter's zeal, laid to rest for a time amongst the quantities of
game, awoke within me again, and as I approached I spied a
second smaller giraffe and realised that the two were a pair
who had withdrawn together to the forest. After long consi-
deration as to where the heart might be in a body of a form so
unfamiliar to me, I fired. The buck was wounded to death, and
as he struggled in his last agonies, he turned slowly towards
his wife, who stood rooted to the spot, her great gazelle-like
eyes fixed on her mate. The hunting fever once aroused, I
had lost all mercy, and I did not hesitate to fire at the female.
Though both were now mortally wounded, the two remained
standing, with their forelegs stuck out far in front of them, so
I put a rapid end to their sufferings by firing again. The
little wife was the first to die; she fell forwards, and then
wound her long neck over on the left till her head almost
touched her tail. I did not actually see the buck die, as I was
watching the passing away of his mate. When I looked again
he was lying upon his side quite dead.

A very good shot is required to bring down a giraffe. I
killed both these animals with the 500 Express, which was a
favourite weapon with us, as we could carry it ourselves,
instead of having to depend on the men to hand it to us. It
was light, extremely handy, and fired hardened spherical
bullets, with six drachms of powder, with wonderful accuracy.
Although I fired in this case at both animals at a distance of
some twenty paces, it was from a minute to two minutes before
either of them fell. I am sorry now that I did not measure the
male. The size of the wild giraffes is ever so much greater than
one would imagine from seeing them in zoological gardens
only, and the largest elephant I saw on my wanderings did not
impress me as half so imposing as a full-grown giraffe. The
flesh tastes not unlike venison, of which we were unfortunately

A. FAITHFUL WIFE 259

not at first aware, as we had never tried it. The skin is nearly
as thick as that of the buffalo, and tremendously tough.

I now sent two of my men back to camp to fetch some of
the porters to help carry home the quantities of meat, and con-
tinued my walk through the wood. I soon came upon another
giraffe, equally free from shyness or suspicion as were those
already killed, but, as I was not very anxious to secure it, it
escaped. My wanderings finally led me down to the bush-
steppe, where I saw plenty of ostriches, but too far off to get a
shot even with the long-range weapons we had with us. I also
came upon another pair of giraffes, which gazed at me inquisi-
tively and made no effort to escape. Though there was really
no need to secure any more meat, I could not refrain from |
firme at the male. Mortally wounded, he tried to save himself
from falling by standing with forelegs wide apart, whilst he
swayed his long neck to and fro. A second shot brought him
down. His wife ran off at the first shot for scarcely two hundred
paces and then remained standing, gazing sadly at her mate, not
even moving away when we busied ourselves about his corpse,
which we covered over with thorny branches to protect it from
hyenas and other beasts of prey.

The next day’s march led us by good sandy paths first
along the southern base of the mountain, where we had to cross
many such deep channels hollowed out by rushing torrents as I
have already described, then we skirted the eastern base, after
which we bore in a northerly direction.

We passed quite close to two little Masai kraals with low
huts made of thin pliable stakes stuck in the ground in a circle
and bent towards each other at the top, the spaces between the
stakes being filled in with interlaced branches, the whole
plastered over with a mixture of cow-dung and earth. There
is no opening except a small one for entrance and exit. As
the cattle are all brought into the central space, round which

8 2

260 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

the huts are built, for the night, the ground is always covered
with dung. |

After not quite three hours’ march we camped by the little
Guaso Kidongoi or Kedong, a stream springing from the
eastern side of the Doenye Erok and ending in a small swamp
after an easterly course of about a mile and a half or two miles.
Guaso, wasso, and ngare all mean water, brook, or river, and
Kidongoi signifies quiver, a name it owes to the fact that the
district through which it flows is overgrown with a species of
branched euphorbia, from the stems of which the natives make
their quivers.

The Masai, who at once came to our camp, were at first
very surly, chiefly on account of some diseased cattle we had
with us. To pacify them we let them pick out the affected
animals themselves to be slaughtered. There were four alto-
gether.

There were a great many Masai in this district, living chiefly
in the undulating plain on the east of the mountain. As they
never hunt, there is an immense amount of game in the neigh-
bourhood, zebras, antelopes, and gazelles grazing close to the
herds of cattle, as if they felt safer near them.

Count Teleki would have liked to press on the next day,
but the traders wanted to remain to buy ivory, so for their
sakes we stopped two days longer.

In some of the ravines on the mountain there were settle-
ments of the Wandorobbo, that remarkable tribe of hunters,
who live in small scattered parties with no connection with
each other, throughout the greater part of Masailand. We
met a few of them for the first time during our march along
the Pangani. The word Ndorobbo means in Masai language
poor folk without cattle or other possessions, and traders have
added the Bantu Wa as a sign of the plural, calling them the
Wandorobbo. In general appearance they are not unlike the

THE WANDOROBBO ; 261

Masai, and when even experienced ivory traders see a Ndorobbo
approaching with his quaint hunting-spear in his hand they
cannot tell to which tribe he belongs without asking him. They
also speak the Masai dialect though it 1s not their mother
language, and they employ an idiom of their own in talking
amongst themselves. They neither breed cattle nor till the
ground, but keep bees and trade in ivory, so that naturally
elephants are the game they chiefly hunt. The so-called Masai
ivory is really supplied by them, as the Masai themselves never
go hunting. For all that, the Wandorobbo are anything but
good sportsmen, and are hardly able to get a living, although
there is such a quantity of game in their neighbourhood, anc
they do not object to eating half-putrid meat. They therefore
prefer to live near the Masai, from whom they can now and
then buy cattle. Very often they cannot pay for it, and remain
in the debt and power of their creditors, to whose interest, of
course, it is to know where they are. Asa matter of fact the
Masai are, as a rule, well informed as to the number and size
of the elephants shot by the Wandorobbo, and the latter are
always very much embarrassed when there are any Masai in
the camps of the ivory traders, their dealings with whom are
conducted in secret, so that we very seldom came actually face
to face with any of these timid people.

Hunting in the low grounds at the base of the mountain
Was as interesting as it was fruitful, and on the very first
afternoon Count Teleki brought down a giraffe, a rhinoceros,
and a spotted hyena, whilst two badly wounded giraffes got
away. There are but few spotted hyenas in this part of Africa,
and as we never molested them the Count would not have shot
this one, but, catching only a fleeting glance at a yellowish-
brown body moving about amongst the grass of the steppe, he
mistook it for a leopard.

I set off with my gun under my arm to explore the course

962 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

of the Guaso Kedong, and with a view to losing no time I
meant to resist every temptation to turn aside till I reached
its swampy mouth. But at the edge of a little acacia wood
bounding the swamp on the east a herd of zebras dashed past
so very close to us that I could not help firmg at one, which
turned its side full towards us. It fell to the ground and
remained motionless.

At the same moment we heard an extraordinary noise like

the yelping of a young hound being flogged, and rushing to |

our victim we discovered that a young foal had been hidden
by its mother’s body. The bullet which had killed her had
passed through its neck. We had some of the flesh of the
foal cooked, and found that it tasted lke broiled fish.

Early in the morning of the second day the traders as-
sembled before Count Teleki’s tent and begged for another
reprieve as they had not yet concluded their ivory purchases.
The Count yielded, and we shouldered our guns once more,
determined at least to bring down game enough for the day’s
rations.

On August 14 we resumed our march, the traders having
bought fifteen fine tusks, whilst we had succeeded in obtaining
four more pack-animals. First we started along the base of
the Doenye Erok till we reached its northern end, and then we
crossed a dreary, unfruitful, undulating district in a north-
westerly direction, Count Teleki bringing down three rhino-
ceroses by the way, arriving, after a long, hot. march, at the
waterhole of Bartimaro at about 5 o'clock in the afternoon.

The neighbouring districts were inhabited by Masai, and
the water, which was in a deep cistern-like cavity, forming
part of the bed of a dried-up stream, encumbered with sand
and débris, was carefully guarded by a party of natives, who
drove our poor thirsty men angrily away. There was no
other water nearer than several hours’ journey, but not until

‘IMAS AO SHTOHUALVM

THE WATERHOLES OF SEKI 269

the tribute had been paid were our people allowed to lower
their calabashes on cords and draw them up full.

There were plenty of acacias and bushes here, but very
little grass; game was scarce, too, and we saw next to nothing
but giraffes and hartebeests.

Our next march brought us to the waterholes of Seki in
the same dried-up bed already described. There are some
fifteen or twenty holes, about 12 to 18 feet deep, with water
one foot deep at the bottom. We found that different natives
had rights over the various holes, and that here, too, our
men were driven away till presents had been given. Jumbe
Kimemeta and the traders were very careful not to wound the
susceptibilities of the natives, and superintended the drawing
of the water themselves. ‘They seemed to take to heart all
the remarks made in their hearing, even if only by some con-
ceited boy. The porters were assailed with all manner of
abuse and bad language, but behaved in a most submissive,
humble manner themselves.

Joseph Thomson implies in his account of his journey here
that his people made the waterholes of Seki, but we learnt
from the Masai that they were dug out by the Wakwafi, a
powerful cattle-breeding tribe who once owned the district.
In every rainy season the holes get filled up with sand and
rubbish, and have to be cleaned out again and again as the
water subsides.

The Masai of the neighbourhood own large herds of cattle,
which they water here with the aid of primitive troughs made
of stones and mud. Two women fill the troughs from leather
bags, and the work is done very much more rapidly than we
should have thought possible, some 2,000 animals being supplied
with water in a few hours.

The humble demeanour of our men, of course, had an un-
fortunate effect upon the natives, who consider gentleness and

266 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

courtesy signs of weakness. So they became more impudent
than usual, and two thefts were attempted in the afternoon.
One moran snatched a piece of meat out of the hand of a porter
and ran off with it. The porter yelled to him to bring it back,
and as he did not obey, fired, missing the robber, who, however,
dropped the meat. Another stole a wooden spoon from our
cook, and was disappearing with it when one of our light-footed
Somal caught him, wrenched away his booty, and gave him a
good drubbing with it. Nothing further came of either incident,
but a less satisfactory accident occurred to the traders. As
already several times remarked, the people from the coast
delight in making the natives wait upon them, and Kijanja,
the guide and headman of Kimemeta’s caravan, had made a
moran fetch water and other things for him. As a pledge of
faithfulness, the warrior had left his spear in Kijanja’s tent,
and came to fetch it in the evening after being paid for his
work. But the spear had disappeared, and though the whole
camp was searched for it, it could not be found. The traders
offered the man another and much better spear, but he would
have his own back and no other. The whole thing was in fact
a trick; the moran had got one of his comrades to carry off the
spear, and knew that he could get pretty well anything he hked
out of the terrified traders. He demanded the value of ten
cows in goods. The traders, who all hang together in their
journeys in Masailand, got the goods together with much
incense-burning and praying, the death of the thief bemg the
principal thing asked of Heaven; and the moran eventually
went off chuckling, with 200 coils of iron wire, 100 of brass
wire, 100 strings of beads, and ten naiberes.

The traders, who were ashamed of the whole affair, tried to
keep it secret from us, but the incense-burning betrayed them.
Count Teleki would never have submitted to such an extortion,
though he would have paid what he thought really fair. We

THE COUNT SHOOTS THREE RHINOCEROSES 267

escaped scot free in the matter, except that we sacrificed one
rocket, which the traders got us to let off in the evening. With
a loud petition from the assembled crowd for the utter con-
fusion and destruction of the thief and all his cattle the rocket
sped heavenward and broke in a grand shower of fire in the
direction of the Masai kraal, but nothing whatever came of it.

The ivory traders make it an invariable rule to keep friends
with the Masai, even when doing so ruins their own under-
takings. They are induced to act thus partly from fear, and
partly because but for the friendly co-operation of the Masai
they could not hope to discover the whereabouts of the
Wandorobbo, from whom they buy their ivory.

The beginning of the next march was across a district of
very much the same character as before: undulating ground
sloping towards the west and fairly sprinkled with acacias, but
with little grass. On the east the dreary Mavarasha hills rose
to a height of about 6,400 feet, whilst in the north the view was
shut in by the blue-grey wall of the Turuka plateau. As we
advanced the district became more and more undulating, the
trees rarer, till at last they disappeared altogether, whilst the
erass became more and more luxuriant. In the last hour’s
march we rounded an isolated hill some 1,000 feet high, called
the Doenye Lomeiboti, camping after four hours’ tramp by the
banks of the little Besil stream, at the southern base of the
comparatively low Doenye Mellevo.

As the advance-guard of the caravan approached the
camping-place, three rhinoceroses came in sight, lying together
on the sandy slope of the mountain, so Count Teleki went off
to hunt them, leaving the men to go on alone. As there was
no cover whatever he had to fire at long range; but after they
had escaped several times he finally brought them down.
He did not rejoin the main body of the expedition, but con-
tinued to wander about alone, and presently I saw the porters

268 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

halt. As usual I was with the rear-guard, and was wondering
what could be the matter when three men came running up,
shouting that two rhinoceroses barred the way, and though the
Koma or caravan flag had been unfurled in their faces they
would not budge. I hastened to the front, and came upon a
niost interesting spectacle. There, directly in the path, stood
the two huge beasts perfectly motionless, gazing at the caravan
with their meek little eyes, looking like two Cerberi forbidding
the passage. Opposite to them, at a distance of some three
hundred paces, were all the men, one of them wildly waving
the flag. This was no new situation to me, and fearing that
one of the rhinoceroses might charge, I got into the right
position without delay and fired at the shoulder of the nearest
tome. The animal gave one groan only and fell to the ground,
whilst his companion, taking absolutely no notice of the shot,
remained stock still. I fired again almost immediately, and to
my astonishment the second rhinoceros fell at once, a result I
did not expect, as I used the small hight 500 Express rifle.
The delight of the men, who had watched the whole thing,
knew no bounds, and some Masai who had joined the caravan
were beyond measure astonished. They seized my hand again
and again, spitting lavishly upon it, and murmuring their Ngai
(God), which is their way of expressing wonder at anything
unusual or incomprehensible.

Soon after this we camped. Itis never possible to do much
trading directly after arrival at a new camp, the natives being
too much occupied in satisfying their curiosity and arranging
about their hongo to care to fetch the cattle from their distant
kraals, and as our donkeys needed rest and good fodder, which
had been scarce the day before, we decided to halt another
day.

The Besil stream by which we were camped rose a few
hundred paces higher up at the foot of the Mellevo, flowed a

A COMIC EPISODE 269

little further in a south-easterly direction, and then disappeared.
In the rainy season it is swollen by two other rivulets from the
Gurugeish Mountains and flows some distance farther, but it
is not known in which direction. Near to us the stream was
prettily bordered with rushes, papyrus, and castor-oil plants,
and at the mouth there were little groups of acacias with fresh
green foliage.

\ TAT Muay!

TAVALA, MORUO! TAVALA! (STOP, MORUO! STOP!)

After a night disturbed by the noise of numerous hyenas a
lovely morning dawned. From our tent we could see four
rhinoceroses, and Count Teleki soon went off hunting. He
only brought one of them down, however, its fall being
witnessed by the whole caravan. It is very interesting to
watch a hunting episode from a distance, for when actually
taking part in it it is impossible calmly to note every incident,
and the whole thing is often much more exciting to a witness

270 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

than to the sportsman himself. In this case the Count fired at
the animal nearest to him, which dashed off in the direction of
a Masai moruo, who was approaching all unconscious of his
danger. Directly the rhinoceros caught sight of him he
charged, wounded to death though he was. Of course, the
moruo took to his heels, and, though the animal soon fell dead,
he continued to run as fast as his legs could carry him in spite
of the shouts of the whole caravan assuring him that all danger
was over. Our men were immensely amused at this ridiculous
scene, though they would have acted in exactly the same way
themselves.

It would take too lone to tell of all the Count’s further
adventures that day. Immense quantities of game, including
four zebras, five genus, and one hartebeest, were brought down,
whilst one sorely wounded ostrich escaped with plumage
dripping with blood. Count Teleki’s account of the behaviour
of some moran who accompanied him, when they became eager
in the chase, was very interesting. On one occasion they went
after a gnu which had been lamed by a shot, seized it by its
horns and tail, and dragged it to the Count for him to give it
its coup de grace. As a reward they asked leave a little later
to follow a slightly wounded hartebeest, and killed it with their
spears.

Natives poured into the camp on this day, and from the
devices on their spears we gathered that they belonged to the
Matumbato, Dogilani, and Kapotei districts ; the last-named
spoke Kabudi. They did not bother us at all, and had the
very greatest respect for our hunting prowess, of which they
had already heard, speaking of us first as ‘ Ngai,’ their word for
God, and later as ‘ Moran,’ which was, of course, an immense
honour for us !

In the afternoon I started, accompanied by a moran, to
clinb Mount Lomeiboti, as | hoped to get an extended view

AN INSOLENT MASAI tI

from the top. At the base of the mountain I came upon a
ereat herd of zebras. I did not attempt to shoot any of the
animals, which showed the most wonderful confidence in us,
allowing us to pass within a hundred paces without moving.
It took us some two hours to reach the peak, as the sides of the
mountain were very steep. Huge blocks of quartz, some pieces
almost transparent, strewed the ground. We noticed a great
many elands, which are
first-rate climbers, and

ereyish-brown = (horn-
less ?) antelopes about
the size of a roebuck.
We had a splendid view
from the top, embrac-

i} Mi
| i
i

i

AU

ing Kihmanjaro and

Meru, but a strong, icy-

cold wind soon drove

us down.

Just before sunset
we had some trouble

with a number of MASAI SHIELDS.

insolent Masai from

Kapotei, one of whom went so far as to fling his spear across
the brook at one of our men. The spear was confiscated,
and the moran had also to pay a fine of a cow, which cooled
his zeal for aggression a little.

This sort of thing always made our Somal very wroth, and
with very few words and anything but a mirthful expression
they would take very prompt measures, such as our porters
would have been quite incapable of, to prevent any recurrence
of a similar thing.

We started again on the morning of August 18, having
bought eleven oxen and three donkeys. Our march’ now led

4

272 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

us in a northerly direction, along the base of the Doenye Mellevo,
first over an undulating steppe, which, as was the case with the
Turuka plateau, became more hilly and wooded as we advanced.
The Turuka range, with its spurs and buttresses, made very
much the same impression upon us as it did upon Thomson,
namely, that of some mighty stronghold; the little Mount
Kimbay, which stood out on our left, resembling an isolated
outwork. Not until after a long, hot march did we reach, at
the foot of the plateau, the dried-up bed of a brook filled with
blocks of gneiss, and with here and there a few holes, some of
them evidently made by the hand of man, containing a little
thick greenish water.

On this march we had a good opportunity of noting the
devastation wrought by elephants when feeding in herds, for
ereat trees were uprooted or stripped of all their barks, whilst
the ground was strewn with branches.

Count Teleki had seen a group of four elephants just before
he got to camp, and in the afternoon he went off to hunt them,
while I remained in camp to work at our maps.

A little later the news was brought to me that four ele-
phants had been seen some twenty minutes’ walk from the camp
on alow hill surrounded by bush, standing perfectly motion-
less as if indulging in an afternoon siesta. Feeling sure these
must be the same animals the Count had noticed in the morn-
ing, so that there would be no fear of my disturbing him at the
wrong moment, I decided to go to him, taking with me one of
Kimemeta’s men who had hunted with me before, and was
trustworthy and useful, although he had but one eye. The
sun was already sinking, so that there was no time to lose,
and we bore towards the place where the elephants had been
sighted, Hassan carrying an 8-bore rifle. But alas! when
we got there there was no sign of them or of their spoors.
Crestfallen we turned towards home, when the happy thought

AN ELEPHANT HUNT Daas

struck me to climb a rock some 30 feet high, and have a good
look round. It was no use hoping to do more as the sun was
just about to disappear below the horizon. I had hardly got
to the top of the rock, when I spied the four elephants just
where they had been before. They had evidently got scent of
us, for they were huddled closely together. There was not a
moment to lose if I was to get a shot before it was dark. The
white tusks stood out clearly against the grey and green back-
ground, so that it was easy to pick out the biggest elephant. I
quickly made sure of the direction of the wind; it was in our
favour, and we sped quickly down our rock in the direction of
our game. We were soon close to them, but not. an inch of
their bodies could we see for the bushes, and my heavy boots
made such a noise on the gneiss and débris that I had half a
mind to take them off. But there were too many thorns for
that, and stealthily, as if our very lives depended on our
caution, we crept on till we came to an acacia, and were at last
face to face with the elephants, though I could only make out
the big male clearly. There he stood some twenty-three paces
off, innocent of his danger, carelessly stretching out his long
trunk for another branch. Full of the greatest impatience, I
waited for the right moment to fire. I had no experience
whatever in shooting elephants, and was anxious to aim at the
heart if I could only make sure just where it was. There was
some little delay, for which I was not exactly sorry, for never
have I been so excited, before the elephant was in the right
position, and as it was impossible to fire through the thorny
upper foliage of the acacia behind which I stood, I threw
myself flat on my face so as to be able to aim under the lowest
branches. The great creature at last turned towards me,
raising his trunk to secure some specially juicy morsel and
exposing his side completely. It was so dark now that I could
hardly see, but I raised the heavy gun and fired, aiming at
WO I. T

274 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

the shoulder, near the edge of the huge unwieldy ear. At the
same moment I got a tremendous blow in the face, and saw
blood streaming down on the still smoking gun. I could not
imagine what had happened, and took no further notice of the
blood then, for I was absorbed in watching what was going on
in front of me. The wounded elephant had approached a step
nearer and was apparently about to charge. There he stood,
drawn up to his full height, so that he looked enormously tall
but thin, his ears outspread, and his trunk, which he wound in
serpentine coils, threateninely uplifted. And on either side of
him, shoulder to shoulder, stood two of his comrades also with
outspread ears and uplifted trunks, whilst behind him loomed the
fourth. Motionless the four remained, standing sniffing the air
and peering towards our acacia, the silence only broken by the
dripping down of my blood. I had been almost stunned by the
blow on my face, my mad zeal for hunting was gone, and I felt
incapable of firmg another shot, however necessary, in my own
defence. The few seconds during which the elephants remained
standing seemed to me an eternity, but presently they all
turned tail and dashed off, the noise of the cracking of branches
gradually dying away.

I now discovered that my nose was split nearly open, the
right nostril hanging loose. ‘The recoil of the elephant gun is
so lessened by a thick piece of indiarubber at the end of the
butt that it is hardly felt, but the barrels have a strong
tendency to fly up on firing. I had already experienced this,
but was careless, and moreover I fired lying down, which one
should never do with so heavy a gun. The rather sharp-edged
comb of the left hammer slit up one nostril, and cut the bridge
of my nose. How glad I was that we made it a rule never to
cock both barrels of our elephant gun.

I bound up my nose as well as I could, noted the direction
of the elephants’ spoor, and then returned to the camp in the

THE COUNT TURNS SURGEON 2a

dark. Count Teleki was just having a bath in his tent when I
got in, and having heard the shot, called out to me, ‘Well, how
went the hunting?’ And as my wound was not very painful,
and things might have been much worse, I was able to reply
cheerfully enough with a laugh—‘ Pretty well—the elephant
bleeds and so do I!’ Stained with blood as I was I looked in
anything but a laughing condition, and as soon as he saw me
the Count hastened to get out all his surgical implements,
carbolic and sublimate liniments, and piles of bandages, with
which by the light of a lantern he proceeded to treat his
damaged friend. He did not let me go till my face was done
up in a regular mask as stiff as plaster of Paris. The wound
was not painful, but 1t was a good six weeks before it healed.
Only one small scar and a certain numbness of the tip of the
nose still remind me of my first elephant hunt.

Count Teleki had failed to find the elephants on account of
the stone-encumbered ground, but when seeking them he came
across a lion. Following the course of the stream by which
we were camped, he heard the roaring of a lion in the bush.
Soon after, one appeared at a distance of 150 paces. He did
not seem to have noticed the hunter before, but now he started
and offered a good chance of a shot at the shoulder. Count
Teleki fired with the 500 Express, and the lion staggered, but
was able to get away into the bush. He bled freely, and the
Count could hear him roaring but he could not see him. He
followed him to within about 80 or 100 paces and then had to
give up the chase as the sun was setting.

During the night several lions prowled about the camp,
and towards morning we could distinctly make out three at
once.

The next morning Count Teleki went off after the wounded
elephant. The blood spoor was very distinct for some thousand
paces, and here and there were pools of gore. The Count was

72

276 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

able to make out that the animal had soon separated from his
companions and had gone off alone, but he could not find him
after all, as he lost the spoor on the stony ground beyond the
bush. Teleki then turned his attention to the lion he had
shot, but with equally unsatisfactory results.

From Turuka two paths lead to Ngongo Bagds on the
frontier of Kikuyuiand, for which all trading caravans make
when passing through the Masai country. One path goes
westward along the course of the Turuka stream, and then
northward, striking the base of the Doenye Erok la Kapotei.
Most caravans take this route, and so did Thomson. The
other crosses the Turuka plateau, and bears northward on
the east of the Doenye Erok. It is far more arduous than
the first, as two days’ marches are through uninhabited dis-
tricts, but for all that we chose it in order, for a time at least,
to avoid following Thomson’s footsteps. We had only one
day’s provisions left, so we were anxious to buy food from the
Masai. We were close to a warrior kraal containing seven
moran and their dittos who often came to visit us, but they
were very unwilling to let us have any cattle. We decided,
therefore, to send Maktubu with thirty men to Dogilani in
advance, which delayed us here some time longer; and, alas!
he returned in a couple of days with empty hands, for, owing
to Jumbe Kimemeta’s forgetfulness, he had gone without any
goods for barter, and could not, of course, make any pur-
chases; and, moreover, the Masai seemed very averse to
selling cattle. It was nearly night, and we had nothing left,
for the only game brought down that day had been a little
Mpala antelope. The men gathered about us with woful
countenances, for they knew they would probably have to go
to rest with empty stomachs, and we were making up our
minds to the situation when there was a cry of zebras! A
herd of six had approached the camp, and though the sun had

THE TURUKA PLATEAU at

already gone down behind the mountain Count Teleki rushed
out with his gun. At the sound of his first shot there was a
loud shout of joy ; the fires which had been allowed to go out
were lit again. They were soon blazing cheerfully, and when
two zebras were brought in, the camp presented a most festive
appearance.

Most of the traders decided to take the westerly route to
Ngongo Bagds, but Jumbe Kimemeta and some fifty of his
men remained with us. The traders who deserted us had had
no luck in buying pack-animals, as we had always spoilt
their market, and they were not likely to get any in Kapotei
or Dogilani, though they might possibly have bought ivory.
Moreover, they were probably tired of the strict discipline
enforced in our camp, and we were, truth to tell, by no means
sorry to get rid of them. i

On August 22 we were off again, the Turuka plateau rising
up in front of us like a perpendicular wall. The path wound
through a ravine, and the ascent took a long time, though we
had not really much more than 300 feet to climb. Once at
the top we had a perfectly uninterrupted view of the tableland
of Turuka, which is unbroken by so much as a tree or shrub.
The ground is covered with short steppe grass, strewn with
volcanic débris of all kinds, intermixed with bits of obsidian
and of red and yellow jasper. It is only on the west that the
sides are steep; on the east the plateau slopes down to the
plain, extending on the north to the base of the table mountain
of Doenyo Erok la Kapotei, which is more than 6,000 feet high.
The whole plateau, as well as the neighbouring Mount Kimbay,
which is also flat-topped, are of volcanic origin, but the crater
from which were ejected these beds of lava and ashes, levelling
the whole district, must have lain somewhere farther to the
north, as in spite of a most careful search we could not find
it in the immediate neighbourhood.

278 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

It was a long time before all the porters and pack-animals
got to the top of the plateau, and even after their arrival we
had to wait for Jumbe Kimemeta, who had stopped behind to
settle up finally with the other traders, so that it was ten
o'clock before we could go on, late enough in view of the
arduous march before us.

Meanwhile Count Teleki shot a gazelle of a reddish colour,
resembling the one he brought down on the Negare na lalla.
At mid-day we saw numerous rhinoceroses and ostriches, and,
to make sure of a day’s rations, Count Teleki halted the cara-
van and went off hunting. ‘The rhinoceroses stood and lay
about in the open where there was not a scrap of cover, and
the only way to hunt them was to make some of the men
draw off their attention. At the first shot all the animals went
off, and had to be followed. The tracks of several wounded
animals crossing each other, the Count hunted now one and
now another till he brought down two. He then went after a
third which had hidden somewhere, and, as he thought, soon
reached it. But, instead of being badly wounded, the animal,
he found, had not been hit at all, and, as he advanced quietly
towards it. it charged full upon him. <A shot in the shoulder
turned the furious beast aside in the nick of time, a second
broke a hind leg, and a third finished it off. A fourth rhi-
noceros received seven Express bullets in head and shoulders,
but escaped after all, as it would have taken too long to follow
it. We saw five other rhinoceroses here, two of which had
quite young ones with them.

Interesting as was the hunt, which was carried on in view
of the whole caravan, we were very glad to get off again at
ten minutes past two, for the heat was very great on the bare,
unprotected plain. We now bore northward in the direction
of the base of the Doenye Erok; the ground became more and
more undulating till at last it was quite hilly ; vegetation, too,

A DREARY DISTRICT 279

reappeared, and at five o'clock in the afternoon we reached
the dried-up bed of the Migungani stream, bordered with
acacias, and camped for the night. Alas! there was no water
here, and, cruélly disappointed, our men went off to search for
some. Fortunately our Somal, used to this kind of emergency,
and endowed with wonderful acumen, found a little in a moun-
tain ravine before darkness set in.

The next day we marched northward round the eastern
side of the mountain, passing through grand but dreary
scenery. The mountain slopes were perfectly bare, and there
were but a few patches of grass at wide intervals on the lava
and débris strewn plains. All the beds of streams we crossed
were dried up, and we went up and down hill in such
heat as we had never felt before, but at last we entered the
inhabited portion of Kapote1; some Moran came to meet us,
and we saw herds of cattle once more.

The natives told us that the place at which we had meant
to camp was too far off and offered to guide us to another |
nearer water. Passing by a well-populated Masai kraal we
came to the ravine-like bed of a brook, and camped a little
before mid-day on its rocky bank. Only in a few holes was
there still a little water, and there was neither tree nor bush.
Water for cooking and fuel for the fires were brought from a
distance by women and boys. Of course we had to pay for it,
and the usual boma, or fence, to protect the camp, could not
be made at all, which mattered the less as the crowds of men,
women, and children who came to see us behaved very well.
This really was the very dreariest district we saw in tropical
Africa, but for all that it seemed densely populated.

We noted that the spears of the warriors were exceptionally
long and of good workmanship. Amongst the numbers who
crowded around us were several young fellows who had but just
undergone the operation alluded to before, after which they

280 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

leave their father’s kraal for that of the moran. They wore a

kid-skin garment, which covered them from the shoulders to

the thighs, and their heads were decked with

two long ostrich feathers and the skins of
several little birds.

Contrary to our expectations, the
natives brought a good many
oxen for sale, and soon the
camp was the scene of great
activity. This was very
irksome to me, as I
had for some little time
been feeling very un-

well.. Eventin
Turuka 1 head
had a good

deal of pain,
and to-day my
symptoms took

an acute form,
so that, in spite
of the great
heat in -the
tent, | had to
take to my
bed. This was,
though I did

GESILA’S END. not know. at

then, the be-

ginning of dysentery and of a long, weary time of suffering for me.
We pressed on, on August 24, accompanied by a number of
Masai women carrying the loads of some of the porters. Small
and thin though they were, these natives had wonderful powers

ae

-—

I AM OBLIGED TO RIDE 281

of endurance, scarcely seeming to feel the 70 lb. weight of the
packages, which they carried easily on their backs upheld by
strips of leather passing across the forehead.

The Kapotei plateau, which was still bare of vegetation,
sloped somewhat more rapidly downward on the east. At
the beginning of the march we passed a large Masai kraal from
which the cattle were just being driven to pasture; the natives
also ran out in crowds with much laughing and shouting to watch
us pass, but none of them followed us. We then climbed several
stony ridges, passed a deserted kraal, now and then crossing the
dry rocky bed of some stream, with here and there a little green
turbid water. During this march the scenery was as dreary
and melancholy as ever ; we sighted the Doenye Lamuyo (about
1,640 feet high), at the northern base of which hes Neongo
Bagas, camping at mid-day at a little pool of water, near to
which Count Teleki shot an eland.

The next day a four hours’ march brought us to a big reed-
erown pond. [had to ride on a donkey, for [had eaten nothing
for four days, and this was anything but a pleasant mode of
progression, as the donkeys are so accustomed to tramp along
together that they make a great fuss if they are separated; so
Thad to put up with all the bumps and blows resulting from
this companionship.

One of the Askari, Gesila by name, who a few weeks
before had been the very picture of health and strength, was
suffering, as 1 was, from dysentery, but things turned out
worse for him than forme. In spite of every care—we had
kept him alive with our scanty stock of rice for eight days—
he became a mere skeleton, and, as he could hardly breathe
when we started on the 25th, he was carried by Qualla and
another guide, all the rest of the men giving him a wide berth.
As his bearers were cutting down the stakes in a wood hard
by, of which to make a litter, I had to drive the vultures off

282 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

the dying man ; a terrible task for me, as I had within me the
seeds of the same disease which might bring me to a similar
end. The poor fellow died during the march.

As we approached the Doenye Lamuyo the scenery im-
proved. On the eastern side rise several insignificant streams
and a rivulet called the Morio, all of which flow eastward,
and, meeting those from Kikuyu, form the Kaya, which is in
reality the upper portion of the Sabaki, which flows into the
Indian Ocean near Melinda. On the south grows one kind of
tree only, the poisonous morio (Acocanthera Schimpert, Hochst.
Bth. and Hook), which Hidelbrandt met with near Taveta and
on the Arl mountains in northern Somaliland. The effect of a
landscape in which the morio grows is very weird and quaint,
the squat, bulky trees, with bare stems only some five to eight
feet high, surmounted by a massive cone-shaped crown of leaves,
standing out as if carved in wood against the yellow steppe.
They tolerate no other tree or plant near them, but congregate
in little groups; the variety we saw here were all about the
same height, and though the trunks looked as if they were
sincle, they really consisted of several thin stems twisted to-
gether like those of a vine. The leaves and flowers are both
small ; the latter are white or of a pink colour, resembling those
of the elder, and they give forth a delightful aromatic scent.
The Wakikuyu and Wandorobbo, as well as the people of
Somaliland, use the distilled sap of the roots to poison their
arrows. Natives and caravan-men alike consider the whole
tree deadly poison and will not even smell the flowers. Our
experience, however, was that the dangerous qualities of the
morio are much exaggerated, for the scent is certainly perfectly
harmless.

Only a few moruu and a couple of Masai medicine-men,
the latter the first we had seen, came to the camp. These
leibons were quite young, and evidently of no very great repute.

A MASAI SJANGIKI 283

Instead of the usual kid-skin garment, they wore a strip of
kaniki or blue baft, and one of them had a string round his

A MASAT SJANGIKI.

284 THROUGH MASAILAND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU

neck of beads of an unusual shape, whilst on his head he
sported a tin teacup.

Here I was able to procure a bowl of good fresh milk,
which however cost as much as an ox. The Masai, in fact,
hold milk in very high esteem, and think it desecration to boil
it. They believe, too, that any adulteration of the milk leads
to the sterility of the cow which yielded it. It is a pity this
idea should not take root amongst the milk sellers of Europe!

Every day since we left Migungani we had expected to
camp in the evening on the Morio stream, but as a matter of
fact we did not get there till early in the afternoon of
August 26, having crossed an undulating district with clumps
of morio. Further north this tree disappeared altogether, and
was replaced by a variety of foliage.

Numbers of natives flocked into our camp, bringing plenty
of oxen for sale, but nearly all of them were so terribly diseased
that even our men, who were not nearly as particular as we
were, could not eat them. As elsewhere, our visitors were
perfectly friendly.

On August 27 we reach Ngongo Bagas, or the spring of
Bagds, an important camping-place on the borders of Masai-
land and Kikuyu. We were now on the eastern side of the
Doenye Lamuyo, and the neighbourhood was more hilly. The
latter part of our march here had been partly between luxu-
riant woods and partly across beautiful meadows, or over little
watercourses fringed with soft green grass, all alike presenting
a marked and delightful contrast to the dreary waterless
plateau of Kapotei.

We met very few Masai, and only saw natives in any
number when we passed.two kraals at the edge of the wood,
from which a crowd of men, moran and moruu, women
and children, rushed out to see us pass, chattering, laughing,
~and screaming. Many of the women brought eleusine meal,

ON THE THRESHOLD OF KIKUYULAND 295 |

tobacco, sugar-cane, &c., which they had got from Kikuyu, and
offered to sell them to us, but we hastened on without stopping
as everyone saw the longed-for spring of Bagas behind the next
hill. It was not however until near mid-day that we really came
to it, and found that it issued from a shallow cleft overgrown
with rushes. We camped upon a flat rugged hill, having
now come to a very important stage in our journey. Our
march through Masailand was over and we stood upon the
threshold of Kikuyuland, on the eve of a time full of trial
and adventure.

286

CHAPTER V
TO KENIA

Irom August 27 to October 8, 1887.

The reputation of the Wakikuyu—Making our palisade—Antics of the Masai—
We open relations with the Wakikuyu—Making brotherhood—We cross the
frontier—Shauri to welcome us—Kutire kimandaja—An uncomfortable camp
—Our mode of travelling—A shauri about rain-making— Oriot muma—Dith-
culties of marching in Kikuyuland—Onur first fight—We make peace—A day
of rest—Renewed hostilities—A fight amongst the Wakikuyu themselves—
False rumours—A dangerous brook-crossing—A second fight—March across
Kikuyuland—First sight of Kenia—Want of union amongst the Wakikuyu—
Our third fight—Abedi’s tragic death—On the northern frontier —Our journey
in Kikuyuland over at last— March to Ndoro—General account of the Wa-
kikuyu and their land.

Our camping-place at Ngongo Bagas was in a very pretty
neighbourhood, on the edge of a thick wood behind which
dwelt the dreaded people of Kikuyu, whilst on the south
stretched vast pastures tenanted by the great herds of cattle
belonging to the Masai.

Here, in addition to many trading caravans, had camped the
English traveller Joseph Thomson, as well as the unfortunate
Bishop Hannington, who laid down his life for his faith in
Usoga.

Negongo Bagas is a regular oasis in the wilderness to
caravans. The food bought by them on their northern
journey to Kilimanjaro is always exhausted by the time they
get here, and but for the vicinity of Kikuyu with its wealth of
natural productions, they would have to send to Leikipia or

FALSE REPORTS ABOUT KIKUYULAND

Lake Baringo for fresh sup-
plies. Purchases are there-
fore always made either here,
where the natives are dealt
with direct. or at Miansini, a
place a little further on, also
on the borders of Kikuyu,
where the Wandorobbo act
as go-betweens.

Before our arrival little
was really known about the
land or the people of Kikuyu,
with the result that count-
less tales were afloat of the
fierceness and hostility of
the natives. A caravan from
Mombasa, it was said, had
attempted, a few years ago,
to enter Kikuyu from the
east, and had been destroyed.
Since then no traders. had
dared to venture within range
of the poisoned arrows, which
natives hidden in the dense
woods were reported to shoot
at every intruder in their
land. And two of the men
with us assured us that Dr.
G. Fischer had had to fight
every inch of his way when
he crossed this redoubtable
district somewhere in the
north, on his way to the

287

NGONGO BAGAS.

CAMP AT

OUR

288 TO KENIA

coast from Kavirondo.' Moreover the Masai had shaken their
heads when we spoke of our intentions, so that there seemed
reasons enough for us to change our minds about going to
Kenia by way of Kikuyu.

It is the custom at Ngongo Bagas to protect the camp
with a strong palisade some 10 to 12 feet high, instead of the
usual boma or bush-fence, not because of any special danger
here, but of the scarcity of firewood. It is no light matter
to put up such a palisade in a short time, and hundreds of
strong arms wielding sharp axes are required for the work.
We did not finish ours for a couple of days, although we had
the remains of an old enclosure to help us. This usually silent
and deserted corner of the world now presented a truly lively
scene, some of the men cutting down trees in the neighbouring
woods, whilst others dragged the trunks to the camp, singing
as they came, and the remainder prepared a small circular
trench enclosing an area some two hundred paces in diameter,
in which the stakes were set up close to each other.

These proceedings were watched by hundreds of loitering
Masai, and unfortunately our friendly relations with them were
disturbed by an accident on the morning after our arrival. I
was lying ill in my tent surrounded by a number of harmless
natives, when they were all of a sudden seized with panic and
rushed out helter skelter. In ten seconds the camp was com-
pletely deserted. The women and children made screaming
for home, whilst the men paused at about 500 or 600 paces off
and raised the war-cry. The whole scare arose from the
following incident: several morans had menaced one of our
men who had gone to fetch water unarmed, and Maktubu, who
had seen this from the wood where he was felling trees, had

! Dr. Fischer died very soon after his arrival in England, so that full details of
his adventurous journeys have never been given to the world. He added greatly,
however, to our knowledge of the districts surrounding Lake Baringo.—TRANs.

TIMIDITY OF THE WAKIKUYU 289

hurried off with his men, shouting for guns. The warriors
responded with their war-cry, and though not a blow had been
struck or a shot fired, there was a regular stampede.

Count Teleki at once sent Jumbe Kimemeta to the natives
to try and make peace, and the Masai promised not to molest
us; but we had begun the quarrel, so they would have no
further dealings with us, and we should have no more cattle,
unless we were prepared to pay another hongo as an earnest
of our goodwill. To this the Count consented, as he was most
anxious to maintain a good understanding and to buy more
cattle.

During the afternoon of the same day two small thefts and
one fraud were practised on us. Kijanja, a negro from Tanga
and guide of Jumbe Kimemeta’s caravan, was negotiating outside
the camp for the purchase of a bullock, and after he had paid
the price the owner of the animal let go the chain, at which,
of course, the bullock at once made tracks for home, whilst the
moruo laughed in his sleeve at Kijanja’s discomfiture. The
natives, moreover, now avoided us as much as possible, and
most of our visitors were old women, few men and no girls or
children venturing into camp.

We had, however, no need to be anxious about provisions.
Even large caravans such as ours could easily, in normal
seasons, buy food for several months of the Wakikuyu in a
very short time. There are no markets exactly like those in
other parts of Africa, as the Wakikuyu do not venture out of
the forests from fear of the Masai, and caravans have to seek
them. <A well-armed contingent of a travelling party goes into
the wood and calls the attention of the natives by firmg two or
three shots. In a few minutes the signal is answered by the
appearance of some envoys; a time and spot are fixed on for
the holding of a market, and in due course the traders make
their way to the rendezvous, soon to be jomed by hundreds of

NiO, I. U

290 TO KENIA

men and women laden with the superfluous produce of their
fields, which they are very glad to dispose of. All now goes
merrily, and in a few minutes piles of provisions are exchanged
for strings of beads, but the slightest misunderstanding, an
unmeaning and generally quite groundless cry of terror from
either side is enough to cause all the natives to flee wildly away.
Such, we have been told, is the usual course of proceedings,
but although in the general mé/ées that ensue many, generally
on the natives’ side, are wounded or killed, it is always quite
easy to arrange for another market.

When our camp was pitched we too sent fifty men under
Tom Charles, and a few of Jumbe Kimemeta’s Askari to the
Wakikuyu to open negotiations, and rather late in the evening
they returned, reporting that they had reached a stream where
they found an old man, to whom they gave a little present,
telling him they wished to buy food. He told them to remain
where they were and he would send some. After several hours
of vain waiting some of our men got impatient, and with the
consent of Tom Charles, who, in fact, had not sufficient control
over them, penetrated further into the wood. In the course of
an hour they came to a clearing, where they met natives
carrying food. They had bought a considerable quantity when
they noticed that the numbers of the Wakikuyu were rapidly
increasing, became frightened and took to their heels, firing
two shots to frighten the natives and so aid their own escape.
The rest of the men, who had stopped by the stream, had also
been able to buy food, and had returned home quite quietly,
bringing it with them.

Tom Charles had managed very badly in his attempt to
smooth matters for us, and so we had to send out another con-
tingent the next day. Fortunately an old Masai woman, named
Nakairo, who was held in high esteem by the Wakikuyu, hap-
pened to be in the camp when our fugitives ran in, and she

MAKING FRIENDSHIP 291

offered to be an intermediary between us and the natives. It is
a noteworthy fact that the women on both sides are always per-
fectly safe, in spite of the constant feud between the Masai and
Wakikuyu, and knowing this we appointed the old lady our
diplomatic agent. The next day she acted as guide to our people,
and a market was held on the brook already mentioned, to which
many women but only four old men brought food for sale. The
rest of the natives could, however, be seen watching proceedings
from the wood. In the course of the afternoon Count Teleki
went over to see what was going on, and his appearance at
first aroused the greatest terror amongst the Wakikuyu, but
they were soon reassured, and gave the white Samaki or chief,
as they called him, a friendly reception. Juma Mussa, who
understood the language of the natives, now had to make
friendship with one of the more important of the men, which
ceremony consisted in each taking a little water from the brook
and pouring it over the head of the other. As the drops
trickled down the face they must be caught in the right hand
and drunk. After this Count Teleki had to pick a few blades
of grass and place them on the head of the Kikuyu, whilst the
latter did the same for Mussa. The market went on quite
quietly after this, and our men returned to camp with heavy
sacks full of sweet potatoes.

We had already noticed how badly rain was wanted, and
Nakairo told us as a first result of her mission that the way
through Kikuyu would be open to us as soon as we had brought
the country rain. We had expected this and hastened to tell
our representative to assure the natives that we were greatly
disposed to meet their wishes, but we could not do so till we
had reached a certain spot in the heart of their land.

The next morning Nakairo went to the Wakikuyu accom-
panied by Qualla. She did not intend to stop by the stream
this time, but to lay our wishes before the assembled Samaki of

uv 2

292 TO KENIA

the land. She really was a clever woman, and we felt assured
of her faithfulness, as she had left us a hostage in the person of
her son, a young warrior, whom she had brought to the camp
to be doctored, as he was disabled by a wound in his foot.
She had seen how carefully Count Teleki had dressed the
wound, wrapping it up in fine linen bandages, and was not
likely to fail us now.

The negotiations with the natives went on very smoothly
this time. Qualla knew well how to inspire confidence by his
own assured demeanour, and at the very first interview he got
so far as to make blood brotherhood with several Wakikuyu.
This ceremony takes place thus. A sheep is killed, the liver
only is cooked and eaten by the brothers that are to be. A little
hitch occurred however, one of the natives on this occasion
having substituted the liver of a dog for that of a sheep. The
horror of Qualla, who is a strict Mahomedan, may be imagined.

Luckily for us it rained a little on September 1, and Nakairo
comfirmed our expectation that the timely shower would be laid
toour credit. Soon came the good tidings that we were free to
go through Kikuyuland, but we must first make a treaty of
peace. We agreed to this at once, and Qualla and Kijanja
with a few men hastened to the place indicated, where they
found a few old men waiting for them. When the endless
speechifying customary on such occasions was over, our men
were told that we were now welcome to enter their land, and
need no longer wait at the stream, which was a bad place for -
holding a market, so they went with their new friends to the
clearing to which Tom Charles had penetrated the first day.
Here they found such an immense number of native men—
most of them, it is true, laden with food—that our people dared
not leave the shelter of the forest, and some of them, including
Kijanja, even ran away. Qualla, however, remained calm, and
made his way through the crowd, which appeared greatly

A DANGEROUS MOMENT 293

excited, but when the numbers were increased by fresh swarms
of gesticulating natives, he too began to feel alarmed. The
young warriors, however, soon restored order, drawing their
long knives or swords, and laying about them vigorously, with

MAKING FRIENDSHIP IN KIKUYULAND.

the flat sides only, but some blood was drawn. Some of
Qualla’s men meanwhile, having plucked up courage again,
gathered about him. The buying and selling was now rapidly
finished. According to Qualla’s account things looked very

294 : TO KENIA

bad several times, and with swords flashing on every side it was
impossible to tell friend from foe. One native snatched a
bundle of beads out of Qualla’s hand, another stole the turban
from Maktubu’s head, but the warriors themselves caught and
flogged the thieves, compelling them to restore the property
taken. In the evening our men came back to camp with three
days’ provisions, consisting this time chiefly of beans, maize,
and millet.

Qualla had met two caravan men who had been left behind
here through sickness several years before and had been made
slaves by the Wakikuyu. ‘They told him that we should never
succeed in getting through the country, for if the people of
the frontier districts let us pass, those living further north
would not permit us to set foot in their land. This had been
the burden of everyone’s song since we left Pangani, but for
all that our relations with the natives became daily better,
especially as the God of rain was favourable to us and sent
several light showers. Daily our men went to the frontier
brook to buy food, often accompanied by Count Teleki.

I was now getting better, and on September 3 was able
to leave my bed for the first time. Our preparations for the
further journey were by this time so far advanced that we were
able to think of starting. We hoped to achieve our purpose
without bloodshed, but we did not mean to trust the natives
too much, and were prepared for all contingencies. Our forty
axes were sharpened and, where necessary, provided with new
handles ; all our weapons were overhauled, and ammunition was
given out. These were, of course, only precautionary measures,
and we represented this to our men. Our one fear was that
they would fail us, for we knew well enough what they thought
about this further journey. Recently they had been very
quiet, and we guessed that their silence boded no good to us.
The chances were that they would leave us in the lurch at the

A GENEROUS LOVER 295

last moment, for this had been all too often the experience of
other travellers.

All went on peacefully enough in camp now ; only a few old
women came to us to sell water and fuel for a few strings of
beads. These ancient sjangiki sometimes stopped all night,

but no young girl ever did such a thing; and when Thom-

85
son says that Masai women often remained all night in his
camp, it would have been only fair to add the age and very
unprepossessing appearance of these visitors. I think, too,
that the same traveller says rather too much about the free
love prevailing in the Masai warrior kraals, for many a
moran chooses and remains true to one sweetheart. A little
incident that occurred to us in Ngongo Bagas ilustrates this.
A warrior came one day into Count Teleki’s tent and, taking
off his beautiful sword, he laid it on the table and said he
wanted to sell it for forty strmgs of beads. The price asked
was so low that the Count inquired why he was so anxious to
part with such a good weapon for so little. The moran replied :
‘My doje is angry with me for giving her no beads, and my
sword is all I have, so I have brought it to get some for her.’

On September 7 ail was ready for a start, and an old
Kikuyu, named Kassa, with a whole body of warriors, promised
to guide us to our next camping-place. ‘The order of the
march was as follows: Count Teleki with Jumbe Kimemeta,
Maktubu, and the Somal led the way, accompanied by forty
meu carrying the tents, our personal luggage, and the axes.
These men had instructions to begin felling trees and cutting
brushwood for a palisade directly the camping-place was
reached. Under the care of the Askari and guides came the
next detachment, with the pack-animals, and our few oxen,
goats, and sheep, whilst the rest of the porters, Qualla, Juma
Mussa, my three fellows and I, brought up the rear. All had
orders to have their weapons in constant readiness.

296 TO KENIA

To our surprise none of our men showed any signs of ©
mutiny when we began our march, but Jumbe Kimemeta re-
marked that we were not at all likely to carry our plan
through, though we might as well try it. The path led us
over a hilly district in a northerly direction, chiefly through
grass-grown clearings surrounded by thick bush. About half
way we met Kassa with three warriors, who, first spitting
vigorously on to their right hands, held them out to Count
Teleki, greeting him heartily; then they hurried on to Qualla,
whom they had evidently quite taken into their hearts, to shake
his hand also. An adventure Count Teleki had with a rhi-
noceros by the way raised him greatly in the esteem of the
natives, who after it cried, whenever they saw him, Moratta,
kutire kimandaja (‘ Friend, we do not want war’). We crossed
the brook bordered by luxuriant vegetation, at which the first
market was held; climbed the steep, but not lofty, hill on the
other side, and camped in a wood on the ridge. The van-
euard set to work at once with axes, and by the time I arrived
with the rear-guard part of the palisade was already up.

The natives who had escorted us thus far now disappeared,
but soon returned to invite us to a shauri of welcome. <Ac-
companied by Kijanja and three Somal as a bodyguard, we
followed our leader to a clearing in the wood some 400 paces
from the camp, where six natives were already waiting for us.
We noticed a crowd of warriors, however, a little further off,
who drew back when we arrived, but soon returned to stare
at us. Then a sturdy young warrior, named Terrere, who had
made blood-friendship with Qualla, flung us a few bits of sugar-
cane and stood up to make a speech. In his right hand
he held a club, very like that of the Masai, with which he
emphasised his meaning by striking the ground with it so
vigorously that it was soon reduced to splinters. Of course
we did not understand what he said with such emphatic

TERRERE’S PROMISES 297

gestures, but his words sounded hearty and friendly. The
introduction consisted of a kind of litany, in which he assured
us of his goodwill and friendship, which litany we had to
repeat after him word for word; then he expressed his delight
at our visit to his country, assured us that we were free of
every path in it, and offered to guide us wherever we went.
Each one of us, as long as we remained in Kikuyuland, would
have a warrior by his side to watch over his welfare. So he
held forth for a very long time, whilst we listened very happily
chewing our sugar-cane, though we could only understand
with the help of an interpreter. We made Kijanja answer him
in the same style, and then went back to camp. This recep-
tion had exceeded our wildest hopes, and we failed not to
express the favourable impression made on us by sending
plenty of presents.

The camp was soon crowded with men, women, and children
bringing food and tobacco for sale, the food including sugar-
cane, maize, beans, cassava, millet and eleusine, and on every
side resounded the cry of Moratta, moratta, kutire kimandaja,
which not only means, as already stated, ‘Friend, we do not
want war, but is also used to decline a bargain. ‘The prices
asked were very low, and we bought a day’s ration for 350
people for 210 strings of beads. ‘The natives were equally
ready to sell their ornaments and weapons, but, in spite of
their outnumbering us so completely, they were shy and timid,
hastening away as soon as they had got rid of their wares, so
that by three o’clock not one was left in camp.

Our palisade was finished the first day, although we made
an especially strong one, meaning to open negotiations with
the various chiefs of the land before going further, which might
delay us some time. 7

This frontier camp was at a height of about 6,240 feet, in
the very middle of a wood, and, as the sky was overclouded, it

298 TO KENIA

was quite cold. At night and in early morning the centigrade
thermometer marked + 11°, but, chilly as it was, the natives
arrived before daybreak the next morning with all manner of
things for sale, waking us with their Moratta, moratta, &c.
They were all so very friendly that we could not help thinking
the traders who had had such difficulties in these parts had
only themselves to blame, probably because in their nervous-
ness they always fired a few shots with a view to overawing
the people before breaking up camp. This would, of course,
at once suggest hostile intentions on their part. There is no
doubt, however, that the Wakikuyu are of a very restless and
excitable temperament, easily roused to action, their swords
starting readily from their scabbards, as proved by the many
scarcely healed wounds and scars on the bodies of all the full-
erown men.

Count Teleki, accompanied by Kassa, Terrere, and a few
other natives, went in the afternoon to the clearing already
several times alluded to, hoping to be able to make arrangements
for the further journey. There he found a certain Utahaj
Uajaki and a troop of natives, who requested him to stop and
confer with them. Utahaj then told the Count that he was
the Samaki of this district, not Kassa, nor any other man; and,
turning to Kassa and his companions, he reproached them for
having taken upon themselves to invite us and treat with us.
Kassa said nothing, but looked very crestfallen. The chief
then went on to impress upon the Count that it would be very
foolish of us to attempt to travel in Kikuyuland accompanied
only by inexperienced men, but that, as he had heard a good
report of us and understood that we would give rain to the
land, he would take upon himself the heavy responsibility of
seeing us safely through our enterprise. Meanwhile a great
crowd of natives had assembled, and Utahaj, who seemed
uneasy, suggested a return to our camp, explaining that he

WATER PALMS.

NATIVES MAKING A CLEARING 301

had been on his way there when he met our party. So they
all went back together.

The new Samaki struck us as being a very intelligent, well-
informed man. He lent a willing ear to our assurances that
we were altogether averse to war, and seemed to realise the
advantages which might accrue to the Wakikuyu if they gave
us a passage through their country. In a long interview we
put before him the aims of our journey, and told him how
many miles we had already accomplished in peace, adding
that our weapons were, in the first instance, beads and stuffs,

but for those who molested us we had fire-spears! We begged

him to tell his people this, and gave him and his escorts some
presents. Kijanja begged Teleki at the close of the shauri to
give the land a little rain at once, so as to set a seal on our
friendship with the Wakikuyu, and, most opportunely, it
actually did rain that same night.

On September 9 we were off again, full of anxious expecta-
tions as to what would befall us by the way. Half an hour’s
march through a dense wood brought us to a ravine, forming
part of the frontier line of Kikuyu, down a stream bordered
with wild, varied, and luxuriant vegetation, flowing in a south-

easterly direction. The banks were so steep and slippery that

a zig-zag track had to be cut before the men could get down
to the water, the crossing of which took more than an hour.
The most noteworthy trees here were water palms and a
beautiful variety of draceena (?) with much-forked stems from
about 31 to 37 feet high, surmounted by a massive bushy
crown of leaves.

Another ten minutes’ march brought us to a new-made
clearing, round about which natives were attacking the
primeval forest with fire and axe, many charred and still
elowing trunks lying strewn about in wild disorder on the
smoking ground. Here Utahaj Uajaki and a large number of

a02 TO KENIA

natives were waiting to lead us further. <A little further tramp
uphill through the narrow belt of primeval forest which forms
a natural frontier encircling the whole of Kikuyuland, and we
found ourselves on its inner edge, looking down upon a
charming landscape, with nothing to recall the dense woods
with which it had once been covered but here and there a
group of trees or a few stumps some three feet high. From
the picturesque little groves still left rose columns of smoke,
betraying the presence of native settlements, whilst all around
them as far as the eye could reach stretched well-cultivated,
undulating pasture-lands, which were a revelation to us, ex-
plainmg the ease with which the Wakikuyu can supply the
needs of the largest caravans.

The path now led through fields, mal many natives, some
old acquaintances, others strangers, came out to meet us, all
spitting on their hands before they offered them to us. The
fame of Qualla and Kijanja had already spread far and near,
for everyone who approached the caravan called out their
names and seemed delighted when they caught sight of them.
Crowds of warriors now escorted us, so that our march assumed
the appearance of a triumphal procession.

We now went down by a gentle slope to a narrow, shallow
brook flowing through a ravine on the borders of a little wood,
in which a number of huts were hidden. Here a crowd of
some three or four thousand natives awaited us, but after the
friendly reception already given us their numbers did not
alarm us. But we soon had cause to change our minds, and
when I came up with the rear-guard Count Teleki told me that
his party had been surrounded by hundreds of warriors, who
barred his way, ordering him to stop, and were only with
difficulty persuaded by a few of their headmen to stand back.
This change of attitude was as unexpected as it was unwelcome,
but we kept calm, though we carefully watched every indica-

A CRITICAL MOMENT 303

tion of how things were likely to go. We soon saw that the
old men were the most persistent in their hostile cries and
efforts to make us turn back. It was a good opportunity for
showing our sang-froid. One fellow shook his fist in the Count’s
face several times, whilst another, who was quite tipsy, made
at him with his drawn sword. The aggressors were always
driven back by Utahaj, but
Count Teleki was so jostled
about that he presently cocked
his weapon. Kassa seemed to
guess what this portended, and
tried to disarm the tipsy man,
but he was not overpowered
until Terrere, holding up his
shield to protect himself, chased
him down. This critical state
of things had lasted for a whole
hour when Utahaj begged us
to pay a small tribute to quiet
the people. But he threw the
beads and stuff we offered him

to the ground at our feet, and

in the scramble which ensued

for them we should certainly

have had one or another spear

flung at us if our warrior
friends had not protected us DRACENA SP.
with their uplifted shields.

All this gave us plenty of food for reflection, but the die
was cast once for all, and we pressed on to the top of a low,
flat hill in a little valley, where Utahaj told us we could camp.
North and south of our hill flowed little streams, and on the
bank of one of them was a group of remarkable-looking trees,

304 TO KENIA

the only vegetation of the valley. These trees, of which illus-
trations are given on pp. 303 and 305, are thought by Schwein-
furth and Ascherson to belong to the draczena group. Of course
we could not make a fence with so few materials at hand, and
there was no fuel to be had but a little brought to us for sale
by women and children. We stacked the bales under the trees
and allowed our men to camp about them. The natives, many
of whom had followed us, watched our proceedings from the
neighbouring heights, and were kept from intruding on us by
Utahaj and his warriors, who drove them back with clubs every
now and then. Our situation was anything but pleasant, as
our men could not even fetch water without the escort of our
friends.

When we had got things a little in order the natives were
allowed to enter the camp. ‘They soon flocked in in consider-
able numbers, some only out of curiosity, others bringing food
for sale; and now began a very trying time for us, as the men,
women, and children, every feature expressive of terror and
excitement, hurried to and fro amongst us. Every now and
then from the hills near by rose a cry of warning, when our
visitors would gaze about them in fresh terror, and if a louder
shout than usual was heard outside the camp, or some specially
bold warrior raised his voice, off went all the natives like the
wind, tumbling helter skelter over tents and fires. Now and
then, too, a real war-cry, an oft-repeated long-drawn-out w-w-w-7,
rang out, and a few arrows were let fly at us, but they always
fell short.

Our native friends did all they could to restore calm and to
inspire their people with confidence in us. We too did our
best by constant shouts of ‘Kutire kimandaja,’ and our
visitors would creep cautiously back only to flee again at the
slightest alarm. Seven times that afternoon did we witness a
regular stampede, and once our ape, Hamis, who was also very

“CNVINANMIN NI

Ale

VOL.

WE SHOW OFF OUR ‘ FIRE-SPEARS’ 307

much excited, was the cause. We were constantly on foot,
going about amongst our people to prevent any careless action
of theirs fanning the smouldering fire; but at last, when arrows
began to fall thickly, and the warriors on a hill on the north
grew more and more insolent and aggressive, we thought it was
time to damp their ardour by bringing our own weapons into
evidence a little. Some of our friends were entrusted with a
message that, in gratitude for their performances with their
arrows, we would show them what we could do with our fire-
spears. Utahaj lent us some buffalo-hide shields; they were
set up at a distance, and, making the natives stand aside, we
fired at our targets. The shields, riddled with holes, were then
exhibited to the warriors, and they were warned that if we
were attacked we should point our guns at them. The answer
was a cry of ‘ Kutire kimandaja !’ from a thousand voices.

So passed the day in anxiety and excitement, but with
twilight the natives dispersed and in the evening Jumbe Kime-
meta, Utahaj Uajaki, and Terrere came to Count Teleki’s tent
to hold a shauri with us. Utahaj was in a very serious mood,
and feared that there would certainly be bloodshed if we did not
give up our purpose of going through Kikuyuland. He seemed
really interested in our fate, and begged us in any case to go to
his village the next morning, where he could ensure our safety,
and give us the necessary material for a good fence for our camp.

When night fell we sent up a rocket every now and then
in one direction or another, the unusual apparition serving to
keep the natives in awe. Rockets are extremely useful for
this purpose amongst the negroes of Africa, and we secured a
quiet night with them now. We were careful, however, also
to make forty men watch all night, relieving guard at midnight,
and at 3 o’clock a.m. We mustered the men, inspected
their weapons, and gave them the strictest orders as to vigilance
and readiness for an emergency. After our tiring day’s work

eS
Xe,

308 | TO KENIA

we slept soundly till the early morning. ‘There was a pretty
heavy fall of rain in the night, which shows that we were very
anxious to keep our promises.

The next morning we crossed several httle brooks and some
rather steep ridges. The path led up hill and down dale, and
as the rain had made it slippery we had some bother with our
pack-animals. Once, indeed, we had to unlade them, and on
this account we were more than an hour getting through one
little valley. We had to creep along, coming to a standstill
every now and then, but not a man was allowed to remove or
even ease his load for a moment, as only those in front had the
least idea what would happen next. Crowds of natives
harassed us, especially in the van and the rear, and though
we kept as closely together as possible, we formed a long
column, the whole of which could not be seen at once. I was
always totally ignorant of what was going on with Count
Teleki’s party, and he was in constant anxiety about me. We
were both, however, protected by a few warriors who did their
utmost to shield us and drive the natives back. I think, how-
ever, that our white skins were our best protection, and we had
already discovered that whatever danger our men might be in,
not a native was likely to dare to touch us ourselves. I am
pretty certain that we should never have achieved our transit
of Kikuyuland if there had not been a European at each end
of the caravan, and the white bandages I still had to wear had
also something to do with the effect I produced.

Most of the natives became more friendly as the day wore
on. There were fewer weapons brandished, and we saw hardly
any arrows ready for shooting. As before stated, the Waki-
kuyu poison the tips of their arrows with morio sap, generally
protecting this sap with little strips of leather, removing the
leather when about to take aim, so that we could always tell
when there was real danger of the arrows being used against us.

i2)

CONSTANT DEMANDS FOR TRIBUTE 309

At every one of the many streams we crossed we had to
pay a little tribute, each small valley having its own Samaki,
a fact which was the chief element of difficulty in our journey
through Kikuyu.

We camped at mid-day on a ridge near Utahaj’s village,
which, as usual in this country, 1s in a wood. Our ridge, which
was some 115 feet high, sloped abruptly down to a brook with
an equally lofty hill on the other side. There was certainly

UTAHAJ UAJAKI’S VILLAGE.

plenty of bush here for making a fence, but it was not of the
right kind, and we put it up chiefly for show, as it would
scarcely protect us from arrows, whilst a charge would carry
it completely at once. Whilst we were at work some thousand
natives surrounded us, and were only kept back with the greatest
trouble by Utahaj and his friends.

Our chief care was to make sure of several days’ provisions,
so that if hostilities really broke out we should have, so to

310 TO KENIA

speak, a freer hand, at least at first. Utahaj had bestirred
himself in the matter, and we had plenty of opportunity of
buying food here. But we had a repetition of the scenes of
sudden panic of the day before, although our friends continued
to take the greatest trouble to maintain peace and order.
Twice petty thefts were the beginning of the stampede, all the
other natives fleeing as well as the thief, for of course they
expected we should begin firing. In both cases a few strings
of beads were all that were taken, and our friends fetched the
culprits back, gave them a good flogeine, and drove them out
of camp. Often, too, tipsy men, generally old fellows, caused
squabbles by their open show of hostility.

In the afternoon some 500 or 600 elders came to have a
shauri, and Jumbe Kimemeta and Utahaj Uajaki asked me
to take part in it, as Count Teleki was just then engaged else-
where. Although I was still far from well, as [had had a relapse
alter my apparent recovery, 1 went with them and squatted
down on the grass in the same style as the assembled natives,
who formed a crescent opposite to me, Kijanja, who understood
Kikikuyu, acting as interpreter. The appearance of the Wa-
kikuyu reminded me greatly of that of the Masai at their shauri,
only here the speeches were rather screamed out than spoken,
the meaning being emphasised with a club till it was reduced
tosplinters. ‘The whole bearing of the speakers was ageressive
and insolent, every speech ending with an Aterere Wakekoyo
(‘ And so I tell you, Kikuyw’).

I did not like the look of this assembly of wild warriors at
all. I several times nearly got a blow from a brandished club.
I did not understand a syllable of what was said, but one
sentence which recurred again and again sounded like, ‘ Kill
them all dead, the Lagomba!’ (caravan people); but I was too
weak and ill to pay much attention to anything, and in the end
I discovered that our position was not nearly as bad as I feared.

A POISONED ARROW oh

The words I thought meant ‘ Kill the caravan people ’ were only
‘Rain we must and will have, and that was no business of
mine, but of the head Leibon, Count Teleki.

Kijanja’s answer left the question of rain unsolved, for he
said a shauri in which so many tipsy men took part could lead
to no result. This seemed reasonable enough, and four sober
men were picked out for a fresh consultation. Utahaj brought
a black bullock and a sheep to make blood-brotherhood. The
broiled livers were eaten, and we on our part promised rain.
This promise we honourably fulfilled, for some fell that same
evening. We really began almost to believe in our own power,
so often did it rain when we had undertaken that it should.
We may be blamed for our behaviour in this matter, but it
must be remembered that the native belief in our being able
to make rain was the only thing that enabled us to cope with
numbers ten times greater than our own and to prevent much
useless bloodshed.

When it was already dark and the natives had withdrawn
to their villages two arrows were suddenly shot into the camp,
one of which wounded a man in the arm whilst the other fell
to the ground harmless. Count Teleki at once ordered the
men to have their guns in readiness, to draw back from the fire,
protect themselves with the ox-hides most of them had bought
at Ngongo Bagas for such emergencies, and to fire at anyone
who approached the camp. Terrere, who was still with us,
hastened off to Utahaj’s village, and the Count treated the
wounded man, who considered himself dead already, as the arrow
was sure to have been poisoned. The wound was washed with
a sublimate, an antidote dropped into it, after which it was
carefully bound up. Utahaj was soon with us, and assured us
eagerly that the culprit certainly did not belong to his village ;
he begged us to fire at anyone who came near the camp, but
fortunately we did not have to proceed to this extremity, for

Sibe TO KENIA

two rockets we sent up kept everyone at a distance. Utahaj
went away but returned almost immediately, bringing a sheep.
with him as compensation for the injury, and he spent the night
in our camp. He and Terrere examined the arrow and, with
much head-shaking, decided that it was poisoned.

Our camp was at a height of about 6,184 feet, and the
weather was very dull and cloudy, quite cold and misty in the
early mornings. We remained here another day to accustom
the natives to the presence of a caravan in their midst. The
news would be sure to spread throughout the land, and the
natives further on would be assured of our peaceful intentions
before we appeared. We were anxious, too, to give the out-
lying Samaki an opportunity to come and make friends with us.

In spite of the unfavourable weather natives came to the
camp long before daybreak the next morning, but waited
patiently outside, shivering with cold, till we gave them leave
to come in. We were anxious at once to heighten our fence,
so as to protect us from arrows, at least; and soon we had
some difficulties to settle with the people of the next valley.

Contrary to our expectations the Samaki who had professed
himself ready to make friends with us the day before, and had
even sent us a sheep for the ceremony, now declined to have
anything to do with us. True, we had had to send his sheep back,
as it did not meet the required conditions of the ceremony,
which are that the animal sacrificed should be quite white or
quite black. Of course such animals are difficult to get, and
when one is procured there can be no doubt of the chief being
in earnest in the matter. In this case the Samaki had slept
upon it, and decided to have nothing whatever to do with us,
and would not hear of our marching any further. Instead
of coming to see us he sent a message that any attempt on our
part to cross the brook would be resisted by force, and that he
meant what he said was evident from the assembling of a

THE GREAT LEIBON WORKS WONDERS oS

number of armed men some 500 or 600 paces from the camp.
Utahaj and some of his people went over at once to see what
they could do to alter the Samaki’s purpose, and the enthu-
siastic Terrere held forth for a whole hour in vain, the only
result being a yet more determined ‘Go back!’ At last Count
Teleki, who was anxious to judge for himself how the matter
was likely to end, went to speak to the natives—of course, with

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A 2A ANE IIA

a

MAKING BLOOD-BROTHERHOOD.

a strong body-guard, at the same time bidding us hold our-
selves in readiness for an attack, which, however, we scarcely
dreaded as our position commanded the Samaki’s valley. The
appearance of the Count, the great Leibon who had already
more than once given rain to the land, had the best effect, and
before very long the wrathful Samaki had found a black sheep
with which to make blood-friendship with us.

It was very interesting to note the behaviour of the natives

514 TO KENIA

at this critical juncture. Before taking our weapons we
warned our visitors of our intentions, and, though they retired
quietly from the camp, they lingered about outside looking on
unmoved at our preparations. They did not dream of going
to the help of their own friends, but waited till our column was
formed for attack, and as soon as ever we laid down our arms
again they were back amongst us and the camp was as lively
deve viel

The ceremony of making blood-brotherhood was gone
through after this almost every day, as we had to make a
treaty with every Samaki through whose territory we passed.
The following was the order of proceedings :—A number of
Wakikuyu and of our men squatted in a circle as witnesses,
whilst in the centre sat the Samaki and Qualla, the latter acting
as our representative. ‘The sheep, which was provided by the
natives, though we had to pay for it, was killed beforehand, so
that the liver and part of the shoulder could be. roasted during
the ceremony. When all was ready the eloquent Kijanja took
up his parable ; a crossed gun and spear were held over the heads
of the two parties to the bond; Kijanja drew his knife and
whetted it on the barrel of the gun, whilst he made a long and
generally senseless speech. The whetting of the knife really
had nothing to do with the matter in hand, but the sly fellow
wanted to sharpen it so as to have it ready to cut a good slice
of meat when the sheep was divided later. Then followed the
reoular speeches accompanied by the triple repetition of
the words Oriot muma, the second, signifying blood-brother,
being shouted by all in chorus. On our part Kijanja said,
making it up as he went along, of course, something to the
following effect: ‘And I tell you,’ you Wakikuyu, that we
are come in peace. We will give you beads, stuffs, wire, and

1 Tn all dealings, even the simplest, the Wakikuyu begin with these words, so
that one hears their aterere, or ‘I tell you,’ at every turn.

KIJANJA’S ELOQUENT HARANGUE 315

all manner of beautiful things, and we will give you rain, if
you will let us pass through your land unmolested. We
promise to keep peace if you keep it. But beware of war,
for war with us is an evil thing. We have arrows which give
forth fire and will burn your villages. And in war, too, you
might lose your oxen and sheep, for when once we let fly our
fire-arrows, not one of you will be able to stand against
them.’ This harangue ended, the natives made many pro-
testations of friendship. Death and the wrath of Heaven
were invoked on all who should break faith; one arm of
each of the contracting parties was gashed and each wetted
his lips with the blood of the other, and, to the accompaniment
of shouts of ‘ Ndugu’ (brother) and * Muma_’ (blood), the broiled
flesh was eaten by the two.

The natives brought food, weapons, and ornaments in great
quantities for sale. They also offered us slaves, chiefly girls
from Ukambani, with a few Masai maidens. They were ready
to accept almost anything in payment, but they preferred deep-
red Masai beads and thick brass wire. Some of our people,
who had been ailing ever since we left Taveta, ran away here
in the night, probably tempted by the fertility of the land, but
their fate was pretty sure to be slavery, and the natives always
consider such fugitives their property. A good many caravan
men are caught in this way, but they always hope to evade
their new masters on some favourable opportunity.

On September 12 we started again accompanied by Utahaj
Uajaki, the path leading, as before, over many ridges and
streams, the whole district being covered with fairly steep hills,
extending north-west and south-east with a south-easterly trend.
In the ravines and valleys flow insignificant streams, and the
country is almost bare of trees, but very well cultivated, the
more humid valleys with sugar-cane, more rarely with bananas
or colocasia; the hill-slopes with potatoes, beans, gums, millet,

Bo TO KENIA

tobacco, and so on. The native tracks lead straight over the
hills without any detours to break the steepness of the ascent,
so that it was hard work, especially for the donkeys, and we
were often delayed for hours in crossing some brook. In fact,
it is difficult to give any idea of the arduousness of the march
on this day. Weadvanced perhaps ten steps, then stopped for
two minutes, got forward another five paces, and halted for
ten minutes. In single file and close together we struggled on
for from five to seven hours, only to accomplish a very few
miles, and all the time we were harassed by hundreds of natives.
Of course Count Teleki, at the head of the caravan, had the
worst of it, for he had to cleave his way through the natives,
who always gathered in force at the streams, where, after
terribly tedious delays, they had to be mollified with presents.
Sometimes, however, peaceable means failed, when there was
nothing for it but to put aside the spears barring the passage,
and press fearlessly on. Often and often it seemed as if a fight
could not be avoided.

We camped safely this time, however, but had to abandon
all hope that we should achieve our journey without difficulty,
for we were little more than prisoners, so surrounded were we
with ever-increasing crowds of natives, whose hostility to us
was unmistakable. We were still, however, determined not to
eive in, and had we turned back there is no doubt that it would
have been the signal for an attack. We must hold our heads
high and assume a confidence we were far from feeling if we
were ever to get to Mount Kenia. Originally we had imagined
that 1t would take us eight days to cross Kikuyuland, but here
we were, on September 12, after three marches, still, so our
culde told us, ten days’ journey from our goal. And I became
more ill every day, whilst inflammation set in in the wound on
my face, causing me much suffering. We both had a great
deal to bear on this part of our expedition. .

STONES AND SPEARS THROWN AT OUR MEN Say

Our camp on the 12th was at a height of about 6,486 feet,
and on our way here the clouds had parted once, revealing the
rugged peak of Mount Kinangop, some 13,120 feet high, be-
longing to the Aberdare range. In the night heavy rain fell,
making the paths very slippery.

The next day’s march took us over the highest ridge of
Kikuyuland, and we camped at a height of about 6,800 feet, the
maximum reached by us so far. The flat summit of the ridge
was now completely overgrown with a species of fern from
64 to 8 feet high, forming whole thickets.

Utahaj and Kassa had left us the day before, but not with-
out providing a substitute, and we went on the next day under
- the guidance of an old grey-headed man, the chief of one of
the valleys before us. The natives became more and more
ageressive, and we felt that a struggle was inevitable, in spite
of all our efforts to keep the peace. Hitherto only drunken
men had clamoured against us; now some of the sober warriors
were for turning us out of their district. Our men, who did
not dare to go to fetch water except in large numbers, had
stones thrown at them, and were threatened with spears. Com-
plaints increasing, of calabashes being broken by the stones,
Count Teleki set out himself with fifty men and a few Somal to
warn the evil-doers, and, if possible, catch one of them. The
rest of our men were left behind under arms, and the camp pre-
sented quite a military appearance. ‘Two natives were caught,
crowds looking on the while, and were brought into camp,
where they were put in chains. They were strong, well-built
young fellows, and evidently thought their last hour was come,
for they struggled with their captors with all their might.
We demanded three sheep in payment for the broken water-
vessels, and ten minutes later the fine was paid, the culprits
were set free, and the camp was besieged once more by
hundreds of natives.

Sule TO KENIA

On September 14 we resumed our march amid scenery
very much the same as that just passed through, except that
there was less cultivation, with more grass, bush, and ferns.
The country was, however, still well populated, and we passed
several little settlements, consisting of from three to about
twenty huts, either hidden in the woods or nestling against
the slopes of the mountains in the midst of banana plantations.
The huts of the Wakikuyu present a very picturesque ap-
pearance, and are of the bee-hive or conical shape, thatched
with straw or rushes, above which protrudes the central beam ;
the roof springs from perpendicular walls with outside supports.
The walls are made of interlaced branches, supplemented by
well-hewn planks or smeared with clay. Near each hut are
two smaller structures of the same kind, in which fruit and
vegetables are stored.

The number of natives who attended our march increased
to thousands as we proceeded, the women and children dashing
off in terror at the shehtest incident, whilst the warriors pressed
more closely upon the caravan. ‘The greatest caution was
needed, and we were in special danger when we had to divide
our forces in two for crossing a stream; an attack would have
been most unfortunate for us, and we were so hemmed in that
the natives could have despatched us with their clubs alone.
However, after a long hour of suspense we got over unmolested.
On the ridge of the next hill our euide suddenly turned aside
from the direct path, and led us towards a brook on the other
side of which we were to camp. It was now one o'clock, and,
as usual, the delays were endless. For a long time the people
of the caravan waited, huddled closely together, on the edge
of the perpendicular side of the brook, we in the rear-guard
quite unable to see what was going on in front. Suddenly we
heard a shot, then another, and another, till a perfect volley
was rattling from the direction of the vanguard. We looked

THE FIRST BLOW STRUCK AT LAST 319

behind us, noted that we were well protected in the rear, and
that very few natives had followed us. All the danger then
was in front, and presently we saw the natives drawing back,
and were able to bear our share in the struggle. Count Teleki
soon routed the enemy completely, and his assailants fled before
him like the wind in every direction. He then gave orders for
the camp to be pitched then and there, and, with a few trusty
followers, went off to clear the neighbouring woods of spies,
and to set. a watch on a body of men, some thousand strong,
who had gathered again about a mile off.

So the first blow had been struck at last, and, of course,
the natives had been the ageressors. There had been the
usual fuss about paying tribute at the stream, but all the goods
offered had been scornfully rejected by warriors whose freshly
greased bodies, &c., showed they were prepared for war. One
of these warriors at last ventured so far as to let fly an arrow,
which wounded Chuma, one of Jumbe Kimemeta’s men, in the
foot. With a shout of ‘The Wakikuyu are shooting!’ Chuma
fired and missed. A second arrow followed the first, but fell
short, but one of our men, terror-struck at the attack, fired,
hitting no one however. The Count forbade any further firing,
but even as he spoke a shower of arrows fell amongst our
people, one hitting Count Teleki himself, but, fortunately, only
lodging in a fold of his coat. Of course a general volley
answered the arrows, although the latter had done scarcely
any harm. :

There were now but seven natives with us, and of all those
with whom we had lately made blood-brotherhood, but one, the
old Samaki who was acting as our guide, remained. Wereegretted
the loss of our other brothers the less, as their influence did not
extend beyond their own district, and as a matter of fact we
were always able in Kikuyuland to secure faithful guides who
would even warn us of the designs of their people against us.

S20 TO KENIA .

Our old Samaki had indeed known of the present plot and tried
to circumvent it by making a detour. It was only the quarrel
about the tribute which upset his calculations, and he was so
indignant at the native attack that he rushed to the Count and
begged him to let his men go on firing.

Chuma was not at all badly hurt, but he nearly died of
fright, although he knew that the other man who had been
wounded with an arrow said to have been poisoned had
recovered.

It was most unfortunate that hostilities had broken out, for
we still had apparently many days’ journey before we could
reach the northern frontier of Kikuyuland. We were ex-
tremely anxious to make peace with the natives, and great was
our relief when very soon after the firing had ceased an old
man approached the camp alone, holding up a green bough in
token of amity. Of course we let him come in unmolested, and
referred him to our guide, who had already received instruc-
tions to conclude a league of peace as soon as possible. Half
an hour later two small groups of natives appeared, all also
carrying green boughs and making professions of friendship.
They, too, were welcomed, and a peace shauri was soon in full
swing. An agreement was quickly come to, and even before the
customary gifts were exchanged the natives flocked into camp
with food for sale, so that anyone who had looked on us then
would have found it difficult to believe that but a few hours
previously we had been in deadly strife with our visitors.

Even before this untoward incident Count Teleki had given
the strictest orders that on no account would any plundering
of the natives be allowed. In spite of this some of our men
who, in the pursuit of their assailants, had come upon a little
lonely group of huts, had set fire to them. We had seen the
smoke without guessing what it portended till the culprits
came back to camp carrying some lambs. As a punishment

——

THEFTS FROM THE CAMP 391

a

they were now flogged in the presence of the natives and the
booty returned to its owners. Jumbe Kimemeta thought we
were quite wrong to act as we did in this matter, declaring
that our only chance was to make the natives fear for the
safety of their property.

During the fight some of our pack-animals and one of
Jumbe Kimemeta’s had disappeared, the latter carrying off a
valuable tusk and the tent for holding the traders’ stores.
Amongst our peace conditions we insisted that four chiefs
should find the necessary sheep the next morning for making
blood-brotherhood with us, and that the stolen donkey with its
load should be brought back to camp. The natives then with-
drew.

As no more could be done now, we remained where we
were all the next day. A strict watch was kept at night, and
the first thing in the morning we strengthened our fence, as
there was no saying whether the natives might not change
their minds. Things looked suspicious too, for no one came
to visit us, though a large party gathered near the camp in
earnest consultation. Presently, however, an envoy appeared,
bringing two sheep as a gift for us, with a message that we
should take them and be gone. Of course we could not agree
to this, and there was another long weary shauri before we
could at last get the chiefs to make blood-brotherhood with us.
The ceremony over, our new brothers received handsome
presents, and the owners of the burnt huts were compensated
for their loss. We also paid for the use of our camping-ground.
But even now the natives did not seem to trust us entirely, for
no women or children came into camp, and Jumbe Kimemeta’s
donkey returned without its load, which could not be found
anywhere. True, two sheep were brought to make up for the
loss, but of course they did not represent the hundredth part

of its value. We were ourselves, however, content enough,
WON S IE 4

B22 TO KENIA

having achieved the blood-brotherhood we were so anxious
about.

Late in the afternoon it rained heavily, much to our regret,
as the difficulties of the path were bad enough when it was
dry. We did our best for the donkeys by feeding them up
with sugar-cane, which is very nourishing and which they eat
ereedily. These grey Muscat asses are used to the steppes,
and the dryer and hotter it is the better they like it, whilst
damp cold soon kills them.

During the next day’s march we saw no gesticulating
natives, only a few silent groups squatting by the wayside,
some of them with green boughs in their hands. After walking
a short distance we came to a somewhat broader valley through
which flowed a little brook. Just as we were preparing to
cross it the rain came down in torrents. It continued to pour
for hours, and the steep banks became so slippery that we
could hardly keep our footing on them. The men slid down
somehow with many a fall, but we had to unlade the donkeys,
and even then it was all we could do to get them over. It took
us four hours to climb the ridge on the other side, which
was only some 330 feet high.

Our slow progress was dreadfully depressing; one or more
of our donkeys succumbed every day, and at this rate we feared
we should lose them all before we got to the frontier. We
therefore asked our guide if there were no other route ; it
seemed very probable that the hills on the east were not so
steep, and that we might find paths going north in that direc-
tion. With his consent we now deviated from the course
pursued thus far, striking along the ridge eastward, arriving
at three o’clock at a good-sized brook.

We pitched our camp close to the water in a narrow ravine
shut in on three sides by pretty steep hills. The natives we
had passed on our way here and those who visited us now

he.
y ‘ty 2

BEGINNING OF HOSTILITIES BY THE BROOK.

Ts

THREATENED HOSTILITIES 325

seemed to be in a state of nervous dread. They were eager to
meet our wishes, and were satisfied with our gifts. As there
was plenty of food to be had, the Count decided to rest a day.
True, in case of hostilities, we were rather awkwardly situated,
but after our recent experiences he did not think we should
have any more trouble with the natives.

On the morning of the second day a lively scene of buying
and selling was going on in camp. The numbers of natives
assembled near were, however, constantly increasing, and we
presently noticed that consultations were being held, and
preparations for a fight were being made amongst them.
Our guides now told us that some of the people from our last
stopping- place had come over to try and persuade the natives
here to join with them in a general attack upon us. Part of
our neighbours seemed disposed to agree, whilst others held
back, evidently fearing what might happen if we got the best
of it. We could watch every movement; we saw the orators
going from one party to another urging war, but as long as
words only were indulged in we felt pretty easy in our minds.

At nine o’clock some of the older men came to weed out of
our camp all the women and children and loiterers, always a
preliminary step to hostilities, so we thought it was time to
take up our own weapons, still hoping, however, to escape a
conflict. The natives anxious for war were now assembled on
the height on the north, whilst those for peace were opposite
to them on the south. At the head of the former, and some
elohty paces from us, stood an old man, whose attitude and
every feature expressed the greatest excitement and longing
for a fight. In his left hand he held his bow and a bundle of
arrows ready for shooting, whilst with the right he kept
twanging the string of the bow to see that it was taut, looking
over at the peaceably disposed natives asif waiting in the hope
that they would come over to his party. After things had

Du0 TO KENIA

been going on like this for some little time the scene suddenly
changed ; the natives began to fight each other, using their
wooden clubs only, so that very little execution was done.
After some ten minutes’ struggle the peace party appeared to
have won, for soon a few Samaki came to our camp and wanted
to make blood-brotherhood with us.

We were just going through this ceremony in the usual
manner when an extraordinary incident occurred. The natives
on the southern height suddenly closed up their ranks, and,
with a terrible war-cry, dashed at those on the north, driving
them almost down into our camp. What the meaning of it all
was we never discovered, for the ‘ Orioi muma’ (‘ And [I tell
you, blood-brother ’) was going on vigorously all the while. No
harm was done after all, except that we had to remain under
arms the rest of the day, and at night to send up rockets, which,
as before, ensured our safety.

Day after day passed with constant alarms of war, but with
no actual hostilities. The whole burden of coping with the
trying situation fell upon Count Teleki, as I was too ill to be
able to be of much use to him. My suffermg exhausted me
terribly, and the only comfort was that it dulled my perceptions
a little as to what was going on. Nothing but the spur of
absolute necessity could have made it possible for me to drag
along, now on foot, now on a donkey, in the terribly pro-
tracted marches of the previous days.

We had had actual difficulties enough to contend with, and
now to these were added constant false rumours, generally
communicated by Jumbe Kimemeta, and though we did not
believe them they affected our men, and did much to harass us
in the little time we might have had for rest of an evening.

The next morning, when we were preparing to start, we
were told that the warriors of Kikuyuland had decided to
combine to attack us at the next stream, and the fact that our

AN ARMED NEUTRALITY ae

friends from the frontier, who had visited us in camp, had
all disappeared, lent colour to the rumour. We therefore
advanced with the greatest caution, but when we reached the
stream in question to find no warriors there, only a few unarmed
natives, who came to meet us quietly, we concluded that the
struggle was to be in the next valley, the transit of which, we
knew, would be arduous
in any case.

We camped at three
eclock in a little al-
most completely shut-in
valley, without having
met an enemy or struck
a blow, but crowds of
warriors were assembled
on the slopes overlook-
ing us, all evidently
prepared for war. The
Wakikuyu, like so many
other tribes of . East
Africa, smear head, face,
and shoulders with a
thick layer of red fat,
and in this case the men
had decked themselves
in a very grotesque KIKUYU WARRIORS.

fashion, some having
erease round the mouth or eyes only, whilst others had yellow
or white earth all over their bodies. Most of them carried
freshly pointed spears.

Though the natives looked formidable enough as they stood
some 200 or 300 paces from us, they seemed to ignore our
presence altogether, taking absolutely no notice of our repeated

BAe) TO KENIA

requests that their chiefs would come and confer with us.
This assumed indifference is an ordinary ruse with them, and
we, in our turn, remained apparently unmoved by their war-
cries, the sheht movement of the hand in cocking a gun being
all but imperceptible. As it began to get dark we sent Kijanja
with fifty men to ask the warriors to retire, saying that if they
did not do so quietly we must clear the ground by force. They
then drew back, and when it grew dark we sent up a few
rockets, after which the chiefs of both sides of the valley came
into camp to make blood-brotherhood with us.

The next day, September 20, owing to the direct road being
impracticable, our course formed something like a capital 8.
As usual we had two brooks to cross, both presenting special
difficulties, though they were in themselves quite insignificant.
At the first some 2,000 old warriors, with arrows ready for
shooting in their hands, looked down on us from the neigh-
bouring ridge, rejected our offered tribute with scorn, and
so pressed upon Count Teleki and his guard that he had to
order one half of the men to stand under arms and protect the
others whilst they clove their way through the crowds with the
bales and donkeys. Tor a whole hour we in the rear-guard
had to stand waiting, and if a fight had come off it would have
gone hardly with us. But once more it was averted, though
why the natives did not attack us it is difficult to say; they
could certainly never have a more favourable opportunity. We
did not breathe freely till the brook was left far behind us. The
rest of this day’s march was through a district equally rugged,
but not nearly so densely populated, and round about our next
camp there were only yam and banana plantations, no cereals.

On September 21 we bore first eastward, then south-
eastward; the hills were broader here and the valleys wider.
Numbers of natives followed us, but there were a good many
women and children amongst them, which did much to reassure

I AM: LEFT ON THE BATTLE-FIELD 329

us. About mid-day we came to a good-sized brook, where we
had to unload the donkeys, and here, as usual, difficulties arose.
The Count was well on the alert, as his guide had said a little
before we came to the water that he did not feel well and
would go home. from our position we could see a tussle
going on between the natives and the first men to cross, but
Count Teleki’s appearance was enough here, as so often before,
to settle the dispute, inspiring more awe than all the muzzles
of the loaded guns.

We crossed the brook uninjured, and were waiting in the
shade of the few trees on the further brink for some of the
donkeys to be saddled and loaded, our long line of men standing
with a perfect wall of natives, numbering from 800 to 1,000,
close behind them, whilst on the other side of the water were
about an equal number. An unnatural silence prevailed, and
it seemed as if the Wakikuyu were waiting for a signal. That
sional came. Silently half a dozen arrows whizzed through the
air and fell amongst us. Neither the Count nor I saw them
coming, and the first note of alarm was the cry of a man at
whose feet one of them fell. In a moment every other sound
was drowned in the noise of the guns fired simultaneously by
all our men. We were suddenly enveloped in a cloud of smoke,
and were being roughly hustled about, chiefly by our own men,
without knowing what it all meant. We were, in fact, in much
more danger from the wild firmg of our porters than from the
natives, but presently the latter broke up and fled, hotly pur-
sued by our men, and I was left behind with Jumbe Kimemeta
and a few of the sick on a battle-field strewn with shields,
spears, &c., but with few dead or wounded.

The whole thing was over so quickly that I only managed
to fire one shot, after which something went wrong with my
weapon, a sixteen-shot Colt’s repeating rifle.

The firing soon ceased, and our men came trooping back, some

350 TO KENIA

of them with a captive woman or child, others with trophies of
all kinds. Count Teleki with Maktubu and the Somal guard also
returned uninjured, but it was a long time before we were all
together again. Before we went farther the porters were com-
pelled to give up all their spoil, as this was the only way to
check their plundering propensities. We destroyed the shields,
which would have been too heavy to carry behind, but the
swords and spears were done up in bundles and taken with us.
We also retained our eight captives, as they would serve as
hostages, and help to bring about peace with their people; they
did not seem much concerned at their position.

Our guide, who belonged to the northern frontier district
of Kikuyu, had expected the attack, but thought it was fixed
for the following day. It was very evident that the onslaught
had been planned, for we picked up hundreds of leather bags
dropped by the fugitives, which were either empty or contained
strips of skin intended to tie up the bales, or perhaps even to
bind the captives the natives had hoped to take. After the
bloody struggle by the brook we resumed our march, keeping
a more vigilant look-out than ever. We soon noticed fresh
crowds of natives at different points, but we pressed on in an
east-south-easterly direction, over a dreary, uncultivated district
till we reached a commandine position at the top of a ridge.
Thousands of natives soon assembled near by, and Count Teleki
went off with a party of our men to disperse them; they did
not, however, retire till they found that they were not safe from
bullets even at a distance of 1,000 paces.

Our camp on the ridge was near the eastern frontier of
Kikuyuland, and about from 23 to 3 miles from the wood,
which seems to encircle the whole district.

When we had secured the safety of our camp we sent our
suides to the next village, to tell the chief we wished to make
friends with him, and were willing to set our captives free on

WE RELEASE OUR CAPTIVES Sok

payment of one sheep for each of them. Only two Samaki
from our immediate neighbourhood came into camp, each
bringing a sheep to make blood-brotherhood with us. Later
several relatives of our captives appeared, but only three young
women were ransomed. The night passed over quietly.

When we were preparing to start the next morning, our
ouides, who had passed the night in the next village, returned
with the rumour that all the chiefs of Kikuyuland had entered
into a league to take vengeance on us, and prevent our going
any farther. We marched on for a short distance eastward,
without seeing any natives at all, till we came to a spot from
which we could look down the next ravine-like valley. Through
this valley flowed a stream, not more than 53 yards wide and
only 2 feet 3 inches deep, which it took us, however, two good
hours to cross. There was none of the fertility here we had
noticed elsewhere in Kikuyuland; the arid, sun-scorched soil was
thinner and often bare even of grass, whilst volcanic rocks
were of frequent occurrence. ‘The rest of this day’s march was
through an uninhabited district, and we were told that it was
deserted on account of the slaving raids of the Wakamba,
who, being much less numerous than the Wakikuyu, are only
successful when they take the latter by surprise.

Not until we had camped, in an uncomfortable position, on
the sloping left bank of a considerable stream, did natives visit
us in any numbers. The rest of our captives were ransomed
here, but none of the chiefs put in an appearance. Two rather
bold thefts were committed which indicated that our troubles
with the natives were not over yet, and Count Teleki sent a
message to the effect that we should open hostilities ourselves
if the stolen goods were not restored, a threat which had the
desired effect at once.

We had now entered the lower-lying valleys of Kikuyuland,
our camping-places varying in height from about 4,750 to 5,070

eae TO KENIA

feet, whereas in the earlier portion of our march their altitude
had been from 6,220 to about 6,550 feet above the sea-level.
The difference was marked by a considerable increase in the
heat of the sun.

The next two days we marched in a north-easterly direction,
at a distance of from 5} to 44 miles from the boundary wood.
Crossing several flat hills and a very fruitful district, where
we were again harassed by numbers of natives, we came, on
September 23, to a swampy little brook, flowing through a
wide valley, on the bank of which we camped. The people
seemed disposed to be friendly here, and we noticed, as a
general rule, that it was the natives of the districts we had
just left, or were about to enter, who threatened us; those we
were actually amongst fearing for the safety of their property
in case of a quarrel with us.

During our march here we had passed through districts so
carefully and systematically cultivated that we might have been
in Europe. There was very little bush, and we should have
siven up all idea of a fence if the natives had not themselves
always brought us a supply of material, which they had got
from a distance. Of course they did not let us have it for
nothing, and it cost from 150 to 200 strings of beads, but they
never failed to appear with it in Kikuyuland, before they dreamt
of trading with us or molesting our camp.

Although we were in a very fertile valley we could not get
up amarket. The people did not trust us thoroughly enough
to allow their women and children to visit us. As usual, crowds
of old men and warriors gathered about the camp in an inso-
lent and aggressive manner, our guide trying to get them to
draw back. Now and then, too, the war-cry was raised, and
we saw warriors, mostly from a distance, trying to incite the
natives to attack us, but nothing came of it.

Our porters and donkeys sorely needed rest, so we remained

I SLIP OFF TO THE MOUNTAIN ja6

where we were for the next day. As usual, the natives, seeing
that we settled down peacefully and had no idea of attacking
them, became bolder and bolder, so that at one time a general
charge seemed imminent, the war-cry sounding throughout the
entire valley. I had slipped out of camp alone with a view to
having a look at Mount Kenia, and, creeping through the
plantations of beans about the camp, had climbed a hill some
2,300 to 2,600 feet above the camp, when I heard the shouts.

A VILLAGE IN KIKUYULAND.

Of course I got back as quickly and quietly
as I could, and fortunately, thanks to disputes
amongst the natives themselves, there was no attack after all.
Indeed, presently ten of the elders came into camp to assure us
of their peaceable intentions, and in the course of the afternoon
the chiefs of the next district, m which we should have to halt,
arrived to offer us their friendship and protection, so that, as
the darkness gathered about us, Kijanja’s familiar ‘ Orioi muma,’
rang out again and again through the stillness of the evening.
In the last day’s march we had noted a marked change in
the character of the country, and this change was intensified

334 TO KENIA

as we went on, the heights, rising in a north-westerly and south-
easterly direction throughout the whole district, became broader
and less lofty, varying in altitude from about 100 to 300
feet, whereas those we had crossed earlier were from 300 to
500 feet high. The difficulties of the way decreased rapidly
now, as much better paths led up the slopes here, and we were
astonished at the skill with which these paths had been made,
and the care with which they were kept in order. From the
top of a lofty hill, which we crossed on September 25, we had
an extended view of much of Kikuyuland, and we could see
how near we had kept all along to its eastern frontier. We
also noted that the plain between Kikuyu and Ukambani be-
comes narrower towards the north, and finally melts away
altogether, so that the mountainous portion of Kikuyuland
becomes merged in the plateau of Ukambani. It also became
clear to us that this ridge connecting the highlands of Kikuyu
with the plateau of northern Ukambani must form the water-
shed between the Sabaki and Tana, so that the various streams
of Kikuyu, of which so far we had crossed thirty-six, belong
to the Sabaki system.

During this march some two or three thousand natives had
followed and surrounded us, but we were glad to see that some
of them bestirred themselves to keep the peace. At about
eleven o’clock we reached a capital camping-place, with plenty
of bush and trees near by. The chiefs kept their people away
till our fence was made, and we felt quite cheered up by the
friendly behaviour of all the natives, but we were still rather
disappointed at the length of the journey, for six days pre-
viously we had been told that we should get to the frontier in
another four; and when we were at Negongo Bagis we had
hoped to effect the transit in eight days. It was now three
weeks since we entered Kikuyuland !

The next day we marched in a northerly direction through

FIVE HUNDRED NATIVES FLEE BEFORE ME 359

beautiful banana and shrub-like bean plantations, over several
ridges and brooks, till we entered a broad valley through which
flowed a considerable stream known as the Maragua, on the
farther side of which we camped. The natives, who had
accompanied us in thousands, were perfectly harmless but full
of nervous dread of us. For instance, once when I dismounted
from my donkey, which my suffering often compelled me to do,
some five hundred of them fled before me in abject terror, whilst
another time I produced the same effect by merely stopping to
look at my pocket compass.

At the beginning of this march we were reminded of our
predecessor in Kikuyuland, Dr. G. Fischer, recently deceased,
some of our people telling us that we had cut across his route,
which was in a westerly direction. According to our informant,
he had traversed Kikuyu in four days, fighting every inch of
the way.

There was every sign of prosperity in the beautiful valley
in which we were camped, some twenty httle villages dotting
the slopes and ridges in our immediate neighbourhood.

On September 27 we passed through equally beautiful and
well-cultivated scenery. Some of the valleys had a slope of
about 530 feet, and we had to cross one rushing mountain brook
called the Tayahez. For the first time since we entered
Kikuyuland the sky was clear of clouds, and we had at last an
opportunity of looking down from a lofty ridge upon the grand
Alpine-like landscape for which we had so often longed in vain.
On the north-west rose the Settima chain with peaks some
138,100 feet high, whilst far away in the blue distance on the
north-east, but distinctly defined, was the lofty Mount Kenia,
the northern rival of Kilmanjaro, which cannot, however,
compete with it in beauty of outline or of general form. Seen
from the south it looks like a broad flat truncated pyramid,
and might be taken for a lofty plateau. Only on the extreme

Da0 TO KENIA

western edge one precipitous and rocky peak caps the moun-
tain mass, standing, however, in no relation to the huge block
above which it rises. On the north-east of this peak there is
a rounded snow-capped summit. ‘The gradient of the western
slopes of Mount Kenia is very shght, whilst on the east it is so
gentle as to be almost imperceptible, so that there the masses
of snow extend far southwards, and give the impression of a
erand and lofty glacier-covered plateau. Although we were
disappointed in the general appearance of this mighty African
mountain, it exercised an irresistible fascination upon us, as
the goal of the present stage of our journey, especially upon
me, as I was now reduced to a perfect skeleton, and nothing but
constant excitement kept me going at all.

Quite unmolested, we reached on September 28 a wide
stream called Masiyoya, and the next day a rushing brook of
the same name some 50 to 60 feet wide by about 3 feet deep.
The trunk of a tree formed a good bridge over Masiyoya No. 1,
but we had to wade through No. 2. The crowds of natives
who accompanied us were friendly enough, and many of them
had no weapons, but we could see that their behaviour was
dictated from motives of policy, not by any hking for us; but
perhaps, indeed, they were thinking of all they had suffered at
the hands of Dr. Fischer’s people. All paths leading past
villages were carefully guarded, and the plantations were in
many cases protected with rows of stakes stuck in the ground
along the edge, whilst we were roughly ordered to keep the track.

I should like to remark here that there is altogether a
wrong impression abroad as to the proper treatment by a
traveller of hostile natives. In districts where might makes
right, and retaliation is the custom of the country, submission
and forbearance are looked upon as signs of fear and weakness,
and to employ force is the only means of producing the neces-
sary impression. The oft-repeated assertion that the forcible

SMALL EXPEDITIONS A MISTAKE Sarl

entry of one traveller into a country adds to the difficulties the
next will have to encounter, is altogether false and could not be
uttered by anyone at all familiar with the subject. As for me,
I would far rather follow in the footsteps of a European who hax
known how to make himself feared than in those of some
roving philanthropist. A large well-armed caravan, ready to

MASIYOYA NO. I.

fight if necessary, is much more likely to avoid bloodshed than
small exploring expeditions such as are now so much advocated.
but which are, in my opinion, altogether a mistake.

We camped on the left bank of Masiyoya No. 2, at the
mouth of a little tributary called Esurusuru, which issues from
a steep valley on the north. The numerous natives who

VOL. I. Z

338 ~ TO KENIA

surrounded us were very self-possessed, and seemed, as our
euide had warned ‘us in the morning, not indisposed to attack
us. We therefore kept our weapons in readiness, for our
guides were never mistaken. In fact their honesty and faith-
fulness to us in the midst of their own people struck us as
being amongst the most remarkable facts of our journey
through Kikuyuland.

We had no fight, but once there were loud u-u-w-2 cries, with
a general stampede from the camp. This war-cry was often
started by young girls who wanted their lovers or brothers to
come to blows with us in the hope that all our fine posses-
sions might fall into their hands.

On September 30 we marched on first through the Esuru-
suru valley and then over a flat hill with a gentle slope to the
north, from the top of which, to our delight, we were at last
able to see the wood on the northern frontier of Kikuyuland,
for though we could not hope to reach it that same day, we
were at least not far off the end of our much harassed weary
tramp. For the first time since we left Taveta we saw a few
isolated specimens of the lofty feather palm. We camped on
a gentle slope beside a shallow brook with clumps of rushes
here and there, and near a little island-like wood haunted by
numerous colobi monkeys, who however fled at our approach.

The natives had been very aggressive on this march, much
more so, in fact, than ever before. The warriors were all
freshly smeared with grease, many of them had newly painted
shields, both tokens of readiness for a fight, and one insolent
fellow went so far as to threaten Qualla several times with his
spear. Qualla lost patience at last and aimed his gun at his
tormentor, whilst I shouted out to the native to beware of
what he was about in very good German, which, as often
before, made the desired impression.

We were greatly relieved at arriving without bloodshed at

INSOLENCE OF NATIVES ON THE INCREASE 309

our camping-place, and whilst the men were scattered about put-
ting things to rights and making the fence, always a specially
dangerous time, the Count and I kept guard ourselves with
loaded weapons. The natives were made to keep a respectful
distance, and even when the camp was pitched we only allowed
a few of them, and those unarmed, to enter it. Heavy rain fell
at intervals during the afternoon and night, which did more
perhaps than anything else to keep the peace, but we did not
really gain much by it as the paths became so slippery that
we could not resume our march the next morning.

Almost before daybreak, crowds of natives came to the
camp, most of them with food for sale, but as no one was
admitted, they had to be content with gathering in groups on
the neighbouring heights, whence they gazed curiously at us.
We had a presentiment that they meant us no good, and kept
careful watch on their movements, for even the day before our
men had been threatened with spears when they went to fetch
water. They were all in such good heart now, however, that
it took a good deal to scare them; they had won so easily
before that they did not dread another encounter.

The insolence of the natives was constantly on the increase,
and as we waited in the captivity of our camp we momentarily
expected anattack. Once a quite trifling and harmless incident
all but resulted in a collision. Count Teleki was writing in his
tent, and I was lying on my bed in my clothes on account of
my illness. As usual, there were loaded guns all round us, so
that we could reach one with each hand without moving. The
natives were squatting round the camp, and we could hear
them every now and then, but on the whole it was very quiet,
so quiet that it was evident our men were not enjoying the
state of armed peace, with their guns for ever in their hands.
Suddenly there were loud cries, and a rush from the natives in
the direction of our camp ; the Count and I seized our guns and

Z 2

340 TO KENIA

hurried out, and saw hundreds of natives making for the camp,
the nearest already only some fifty paces off. It was lucky
neither the Count nor I fired, although we were both convinced
that we were about to be attacked, for our first shots would
have led to a regular mélée, but a warning cry was heard from
one of our men, and it turned out after all that the natives
were only chasing a little gazelle, which had started up close
to our camp, and was in the end caught inside our boma.

In the course of the afternoon Qualla, who superintended
the purchase of the provisions brought to the camp, was several
times threatened by warriors, and more than once complained
about it to Count Teleki, who told our guide to warn his people
that we should fire on them if anything of the kind occurred
again. But it was no good; Qualla soon reappeared with the
same tale, and was told he might draw upon his next assailant.
[ heard this permission given as I lay on my bed, and then I fell
into a refreshing sleep, from which I was roused about an hour
later by the noise of continuous firing. I jumped up, and, in
spite of my weakness, ran out of my tent and fired again and
again. Count Teleki was standing near doing the same thing.
Presently the natives began to run away, with our men, who
were not to be held back, after them. Worn out with the
perpetual petty worries of the preceding days, our people were
determined to pay their persecutors out now, and soon no one
was left behind but the Count, Jumbe Kimemeta, a few invalids,
and myself. We heard several shots in the distance, and then
all was still.

About an hour afterwards, smoke rising from the direction
of the villages showed that they had been set on fire by the
victors, and parties of our men began to return, screaming,
singing, and dancing, as they fired off their own weapons and
flourished those they had taken from their enemies. Nearly
all of them were also driving cattle before them, whilst some

RETURN OF THE VICTORS 341

had taken women and children prisoners. Soon the camp was
so crowded with cattle, &c., that 1t seemed impossible it could
hold more, and our men, drunk with victory, smeared with
their own blood and that of their victims, presented a horrible
appearance, as they danced a war-dance opposite the tent of
their master, and laid their booty at his feet.

By five o’clock everyone was back but Qualla and three or
four others. Just as we had noticed his absence, another party

==

=

— SSSSSsS==

SSS
——$—S

ae

DRUNK WITH VICTORY.

of warriors appeared on one of the neighbouring heights at a
distance of some thousand paces from the camp, in the very
direction from which we expected Qualla to come. Feeling
pretty certain that our Somal was in the greatest danger if not
already lost, Count Teleki sent fifty men to meet the warriors,
hoping to turn their attention from Qualla should he be any-
where near. One warrior presently advanced from amongst

342 TO KENIA

the others and began wildly gesticulating. He was probably
demanding a conference, but as he was fully armed and did
not carry a green branch as token of amity, he was taken
prisoner and bound. At the same moment Qualla and three
of his companions appeared on the same height, and catching
sight of our contingent, hastened to place himself at their head
and advance upon the foe. A parley ensued, but nothing came
of it, for soon arrows were flying and guns firmg again. When
the natives turned and fled, Qualla came into camp, and ex-
plained that he had fired because the warriors were about to
charge. The rest of the day passed over quietly.

The fight had been the result of the overbearing insolence
of a few warriors. Qualla had been outside the camp over-
looking the buying of provisions, of which not nearly enough
were brought in, and we were hoping to get the natives
to trust us more and supply us better. But some of them
continued to insult and harass our men. One young donkey
driver, who had gone down to the water, had been wounded,
though he had done nothing to provoke an attack, but had
quietly awaited a rush from a number of yelling natives, and
Qualla had been three times assailed by a warrior, who dashed
out at him from the crowd with drawn sword. The Somal had
put up with all this for a good hour, and had then said that

he would fire if the blade so much as touched him. But for
the fourth time the same man came forward and pointed his
spear at Qualla’s breast, whilst another seized a bundle of
strings of beads hanging from his arm. At the same moment
there was a fiendish yell from the lookers-on, and Qualla fired,
which was, of course, the signal for a general volley from our
men, with the result already described.

We now had nineteen prisoners, ninety cows, and 1,300
sheep as quite unexpected guests in our camp. Of course,
there was not nearly room enough for them all, and the evening

ENVOYS OF PEACE 345

and night were passed in the very greatest discomfort. The
cows bellowed, the sheep and goats lifted up their voices, the
women and children wept and moaned, whilst our men shouted
and danced with joy. We ourselves were filled with anxiety
about the immediate future, as the natives might very easily
attack us again in greater force, either from the hill which
commanded our camp on the one side, or from the shelter of
the wood on the other. Strong outposts were therefore placed
in both these directions, and a careful watch kept in camp, in
which we shared.

Our safety thus assured, we took counsel as to what was to
be done next. Of course we greatly regretted the burning of
the villages, but it could not be undone now, and Jumbe
Kimemeta declared that it was the very best thing that could
have happened, the only thing, in fact, which could have saved
us from a general attack; we had but to go on as we had
begun and all would be well. We still clung to our wish for
peace, however, and hoped to bring it about with the aid of
our various captives.

The night passed over without incident, and we anxiously
awaited the dawn, which broke dull and cloudy, so that we
could not see far from camp. As it grew clearer we spied two
figures creeping, in a shy, hesitating manner, towards the camp
from the height on the south. They wanted to find out whether
we were still in camp or had gone on farther. A little later
four other natives appeared, carrying green branches in their
hands, and pausing every now and then to cry ‘ Kutire kiman-
daja!’ We greeted these envoys of peace most cordially, and
invited them into camp; but they squatted down at a distance
of some 300 paces, declaring that they could not come any
nearer, so we sent Kijanja and the only guide we had left to
parley with them. Our other guide had gone off soon after we
camped, as he said, to visit his friends. He had received no

344 TO KENIA

pay from us, so we fully expected to see him back; but we
were mistaken, he never reappeared. The other, a very
sensible young fellow, assured us that we need not be at all
afraid of his deserting us too, but he seemed rather anxious
and disturbed, which was no wonder, as, of course, he was
looked upon as a traitor by his fellow-countrymen. We did
our best to comfort him by telling him he would be doing his
people a great service if he took us safely to the frontier of
Kikuyuland.

This guide and Kijanja were instructed by Count Teleki to
tell the natives that we were anxious for peace, but would only
conclude that peace with the whole neighbourhood, as it was
important we should know in our further journey whether we
had to deal with friends or foes. With this end in view we
invited all the chiefs of the villages in our further route to
come and make blood-brotherhood with us, after which we
would set our captives free and restore the cattle taken.

The four envoys listened to what our ambassadors said and
went away, returning an hour later with the news that their
own villages and the chiefs of a few other valleys were willing
to make friends with us, but that those on the south and north-
west wanted war.

To this we replied that we would wait till mid-day, and if
by that time all the chiefs had not come in to make blood-
brotherhood we should conclude that they were all our enemies
and act accordingly.

Once more the envoys left us, and for several hours we were
left in peace. But the messengers did not return, nor was there
any sign of the chiefs. Instead of that, towards twelve o’clock
numbers of warriors gathered on the hill on the south, gazing
at us from above their freshly painted shields, whilst from one
of our outposts higher up came the news that another thousand
natives were in sight. This compelled us to give up all hope

DEATH OF ABEDI WADI HERI 345

of peace, so we sent Qualla with an advance guard of 120 men
to drive off the natives, who dispersed at the first discharge.

The next night passed over quietly, and on the morning of
October 5 we prepared to start again, still anxious for an oppor-
tunity to make peace, but the valley was deserted and so were the
various heights we passed after leaving the camp. We had,
of course, a great deal of trouble with all the animals we now
had with us, the cattle dispersing in every direction directly we
were outside the hedge. And we kept looking anxiously
behind us, for we knew too well how many enemies we had in
our rear, and had no hope of escaping further hostilities.

We passed several villages, all deserted, and now we began
to see groups of their inhabitants on the hills anxiously
watching us. When they saw that we pressed on, taking no
notice of them, they seemed reassured, and many of them came
down and stood beside their huts, some of them with green
branches in their hands. They let us pass unmolested, and,
though thousands of warriors were now gathering, either
following us or accompanying us in paths alongside of our
own, they caused us little anxiety as they did not approach
very near.

On this march we lost a man, Abedi wadi Heri by name,
in a very melancholy way. Like myself, he had long been
suffermge so much that he could hardly keep up with the
caravan, and more than once he had crept into the bush, as he
expressed it, to die in peace. Hitherto we had always missed
him in time for Qualla to go to the rescue and bring him after
us, but this time he could not be found, and, as we were hunt-
ing for him we saw a number of warriors gathered together
some 400 paces off, one of whom was mockingly holding up a
blood-stained shirt towards us. A shot from us avenged his
death.

We came presently toa shallow but very rapid brook called

346 TO KENIA

the Bura, some eighty feet broad, where the Count was met by
some old men with green boughs in their hands, who assured
him no one meant to harm us.' There was a good bridge over
this stream, but as the natives demanded payment for the use
of it, it seemed better for us to wade across to avoid any
occasion of strife. In spite of the number of animals with us,
we were all over after an hour’s hard work, during which
numbers of natives had gathered on the other side, who were

kept off us by elders with
green branches. As we
climbed the next height
and were able to get a
more extended view of the
country, we saw cause for

WE AVENGE ABEDI WADI HERI

considerable anxiety, every

ridge and slope being covered with natives, who watched our
every movement. Had we merely to do with an armed peace-
party gathered to ensure our being allowed to pass unscathed,
or were these warriors, outnumbering us by fifty to one,
cathered from far and near to strike us down at the very gate
of exit from their country ? for we were now within sight of the
frontier. It was impossible to say; as we moved they moved,
where we went they went, but all the time the elders with

A HARASSED MARCH a4

green boughs kept between us and them, evidently determined
to protect us from molestation.

At last, without further incident but the loss through theft
of some of our sheep and goats, we arrived about mid-day at
a broad, shallow, reed-grown brook, and camped at the edge
of the forest on the northern frontier. This was our last march
in Kikuyuland ; we had only to pass through the wood and we
should be again in the open uninhabited wilderness, for which
we had longed so often in the previous weeks.

We should have hked to place this wood between us and
the Wakikuyu the next morning, but it would not do to attempt
this when we might still be attacked at any moment and were
quite unacquainted with the way through.

A few elders with green branches met us here also to assure
us of their friendly feelings towards us, but no Samaki appeared
at all, whilst ever-increasing numbers of armed natives gathered
round our camp. And our last guide had now disappeared also
without having received any recompense from us for his long
and faithful service. It wasa matter of the deepest regret to us
that we were unable to make him a present, for a whole estate
in Kikuyuland would not have been beyond his deserts.

The day passed over quietly, although we saw the natives
consulting constantly together, of course about us, and we had
to be continually on our guard against surprise. The night,
too, wore away without our being molested, though once we
had to fire at some warriors who approached the camp too
closely.

Early the next morning we saw the natives eagerly talking
together at a distance of from 1,000 to 1,500 paces from the
camp, and as meanwhile we noticed crowds of heavily laden
women and children hurrying away, we came to the conclusion
that the result of the shauri was to be war on us. Great then
was our surprise when, at about eleven o'clock, instead of the

348 TO KENIA

expected rush of warriors, fifteen old men approached the camp
holding on high green branches and singing in a kind of chorus.
Arrived in camp, they squatted down and a long peace shauri
began. They informed us that all night long consultations
had been going on, the people of the villages destroyed by us.
having tried to persuade the warriors to avenge them, but that
in the end it had been decided that peace should be made with
us; if anyone had stolen sheep or goats from us, on the head
of that one be the blame; they themselves were ready to make
blood-brotherhood with us.

This was more than we had dared to hope, and never had
the ‘ Oriol muma’ sounded sweeter in our ears than now.
Blood-brotherhood was made between Qualla and a dignified
young warrior, the Lygonani of the frontier, who came into
camp without a sign of fear. The ceremony was witnessed by
a large crowd. We on our part now asked for food enough
to last us till we got to Ndoro, at the foot of Mount Kenia, or,
as the natives here call it, Mount Kilimara, whilst the Wa-
kikuvu demanded rain, a request which had not been made
to us since September 11. We promised to set free all our
captives as soon as we had crossed the frontier, stipulating
that we should not be followed by any natives on our way
through the wood, and should be at liberty to treat as an
enemy anyone who infringed this condition. |

Maktubu was now sent out with thirty men under the
cuidance of one of our female captives to make a reconnois-
sance of the forest, and soon returned with the favourable
report that it was of very small extent, with a good path lead-
ing through the thick bush, &c.

The next morning, October 5, dawned cold and fogey, but
we were off again early, and first skirting round a little swamp,
we tramped through the thick bush, soon leaving the only
two wooded heights behind us, and camping at mid-day by a

A VISIT FROM ONE OF OUR BLOOD-BROTHERS 549

shallow brook not more than 100 paces from the outer edge of
the forest. As soon as we halted, the nativesreappeared. We
took no notice of them at first, but when we saw numbers
creeping up from every side we drove them off with a few shots,
which, however, hurt no one, except perhaps the ape Hamis,
who was always almost thrown into convulsions by the sound
of firing. They served, however, to convince the natives that we
were well on our guard, and to put a stop to their attempts to
steal our sheep. Peace then reigned in camp.

We were now at a height of about 5,750 feet above the sea-
level, the average height of our previous camping-places in
central Kikuyuland having been from 4,550 to 5,000 feet. It
had begun to rain on the march, and the weather remained
cold and foggy the whole day, so that everyone stopped in the
tents or in the huts hastily constructed of branches. This was
how it happened that at five o’clock twelve men and women,
bringing food for sale, led by the Lygonani with whom we had
made blood-brotherhood, suddenly appeared in camp opposite
Count Teleki’s tent, but without our having had any warning of
their approach. We were astonished that none of our people had
seen them coming, but one of our men, Jibu wadi Kombo, whose
bright straightforward answers had often delighted us, told
us naively that they had seen them, but that the gleam of the
sugar-cane they were carrying had been too much for the poor
fellows to resist. The Lygonani, to whom we pointed out the
danger he had run, also told us that he had been warned against
approaching us by some of our people whom he had met, but
he had not taken any notice of what they said, for was he not
our blood-brother now ?

He remained with us now to act as our guide the next day,
but the natives who had come with him returned home. Very
much to their surprise and delight we allowed our captives to
go too, giving them all a number of presents. The women and

«

350 ) TO KENIA

children had all along known that we should do them no harm,
but the warriors could scarcely believe their ears and eyes
when they found themselves not only at liberty, but the owners
of all the wonderful things we had chosen for them.

The next morning we resumed our march, crossing several
steep hills which had evidently once been well wooded, and
crossing two good-sized brooks flowing in an easterly direction,
camping on the farther side of the second in a sheltered ravine-
like valley. A few shy natives had followed us on this march,
and when some of our people went to fetch the flesh of a rhino-
ceros Count Teleki had shot by the way, they found it already
cut up, and the horns carried off.

The scenery through which we had just passed impressed
us as very dreary and barren, but there were clumps of bush-
tree, euphorbia, and of Calotropis procera (Arab. Oschar).
To make up for this, the valley we were camped in was a
charming little nook, with its steep slopes covered with short
soft sward, from which rose here and there lofty isolated palms
with their feathery crowns of leaves. We wished we could
have made this the starting-point for our ascent of Kenia, but
it would have been on the one hand too near the frontier of
Kikuyuland, and on the other too far from Ndoro. So we
reluctantly left again the next morning.

It was a long tramp in a north-easterly direction to Ndoro,
across a gently ascending undulating district, in which woods
alternated with greyish-brown openings overgrown with steppe
srass, great patches of the latter having, however, been here
and there recently burnt. Once we marched for nearly an
hour amongst beds of flowers through what might have been
a deserted park, the smooth sandy paths winding between
groves and clumps of trees. Nothing was wanting to complete
the illusion but the ruins of a castle. A rugged ravine hewn
deeply in the volcanic rock shut in this park, and descending

*

ACCOUNT OF-KIKUYULAND Ou

it by a path bordered with thick bush, we crossed a clear
stream at the bottom called the Negare no erobi, or the cold
brook, and climbed up the further side on to a grass-clad
steppe, where we found to our surprise some twenty Wakikuyu
awaiting us with food for sale. This we found was Ndoro, and
we camped here, but it suited us very badly, the water being
too far off and the pasture poor, a serious matter for us
with all our cattle. So the next day we pushed on for another
three-quarters of an hour to the upper course of the Ngare
no erobi, which flows through a flat and easily accessible channel
bounded on the left by a narrow strip of wood stretching down
from Kenia. This was in every respect the very place for us,
and we made it our headquarters for the following weeks.

So we had carried out yet another portion of our programme,
having crossed Kikuyuland. For me, worn out as I was with
suffering, it was time indeed for the conditions of our daily life
to improve, and if we had not now been able to settle down
quietly a little and get fresh nourishing milk for me to drink
I should have ended my life’s journey once for all at Kenia.
Before we finally leave Kikuyuland, I will try and give a con-
densed account of it and its inhabitants, which are, as I be-
lieve, destined to play an important part in the future of Hast
Africa.

The Wakikuyu, or, as they call themselves, the Wakekoyo,
occupy a stretch of land from about eight to eleven miles
in breadth, between Ngongo Bagas and Kenia. As far as we
could make out, the height of the land in the south is from
6,000 to 6,500 feet ; in the central portions, from 4,500 to 5,000
feet; and in the north, from 5,000 to 6,000 feet. It is inter-
sected by parallel heights trending N.W. by 8.E., with valleys
of a slope of from 100 to 500 feet, the general inclination
being the same as that of the ridges, from the N.W. to theS.E.
There is no doubt that the whole of Kikuyuland was once densely

ae TO KENIA

wooded, but the industrious natives have cleared away almost
every trace of forest from the interior, leaving only a belt as a
frontier buttress from one to two hours’ march deep.

A great many streams—we crossed sixty-two—flow through
Kikuyuland. Those from the south, which number forty-two,
join the Morio and form the Kaya or upper course of the Sabaki;
the twenty from the north, which are of considerable volume,

join the numerous streams from Kenia to form the Sagana,
which, flowing southwards, joins the Tana on its way to its
outlet in the Indian Ocean at Lamu.

In the light grey volcanic soil of Kikuyuland grow nearly
all the cereals native to East Africa, and it is, in fact, the
oranary of a very extended district. Several kinds of bananas
are grown as well as beans, sugar-cane, maize, potatoes, yams,
eleusine, dhurra, millet (Panicum vtalicum, L.), mawale (Penni-
setum spicatum), gourds, colocasia, and tobacco. Of course
all these are not equally distributed, millet, beans, and potatoes
being most plentiful in the south, whilst bananas abound in
the north and millet is entirely absent.

The occurrence of millet in Kikuyuland is of peculiar
significance, as it has not so far been met with elsewhere in
Africa. Dr. Schweinfurth is of opinion that it was introduced
from India, which imphes intercourse with that country im pre-
Mahomedan times. The Wakikuyu call millet mkombe, or,
when still in the husk, mkombe mo-konjore.

Bananas are seldom allowed to become ripe, and we could
rarely get them. They are picked when still green and either
cooked for food or dried to make flour. Dhurra, eleusine, and
yams are also used for flour. Sugar-cane thrives admirably
here, but it does not grow to the great height it attains in
tropical lowlands. The natives chew it and also sometimes
make it into an intoxicating beverage, and in almost every
village we saw the long tree-trunks with some ten or twelve

WILD PLANTS UTILISED IN KIKUYULAND 3093

holes hollowed out in them, each capable of holding some five
pints, in which the peeled and cut-up sugar-cane is pounded by
the women. ‘The juice thus pressed out is left to ferment. for
three days.

Of wild plants turned to account by the Wakikuyu I may
mention the ricinus or castor-oil, from the fruit of which they

POMBE MAKING IN KIKUYULAND.

press out a brown oil used to smear the body in illness, and
the Hriosema erythrocarpon, one of the leguminose, which
yields a dark yellow dye.’

The Wakikuyu are not only zealous agriculturists, they
also keep bees and breed cattle, sheep, poultry, and goats—
occasionally castrating the rams—which they are willing to

* Great quantities of this plant, which grows wild in Eden and Harar, and is cul-
tivated in Southern Yemen under the name of wars, are exported every year to India.

WOE. T, fay IN

304 TO KENIA

sell, though it is difficult to get them to part with their
cattle.

The lively, restless temperament of the Wakikuyu is far
more indicative of their relation to the great Bantu stock than
their physical appearance, which resembles that of the Masai.
Though seldom above a medium height’ they are well built,
muscular, and strong. ‘Their characters vary very much.
Their natural complexion is a rather dark brown, but the fat

ARM ORNAMENTS OF THE WAKIKUYU.

with which they smear themselves makes it look red. Their
clothes and ornaments are very like those of the Masai and
the Wakamba.

The young men wear their hair arranged in several different
styles, but chiefly in that already described in speaking of the
Wataveta and Masai. They are fond of binding quantities of
feathers from the breast of the guinea-fowl or the wild dove
round their heads, so that they look as if they grew there. Boys

A

it as a girdle.

DRESS OF THE WAKIKUYU ao0

and older men have their hair cut short at a certain stage of
growth, whilst young girls leave only a circular cap-like patch
of hair on the top of their heads. Both sexes remove all the

hair from the body.

The men, though the temperature is often low, wear no
garments but a piece of goat-skin fastened on the right shoulder,
and scarcely covering the upper portion of the body, and a
heart-shaped bit of leather hanging down the back from a thin
string worn round the neck. When it rains this bit of leather
is turned up to protect
the head. Very often
even this scanty ward-
robe is found oppres-
sive, and the young

men especially are
fond of rolling up the
mantle and wearing

The women wear
an apron of tanned
and dressed kid-skin
fastened round the
waist, which comes

down to the thighs EAR ORNAMENTS OF THE WAKIKUYU.

or knees, whilst in

cold or rainy weather they supplement it with a second and

larger leather garment, falling from the throat to the knees.
The Wakikuyu load ears, neck, arms, loms, and legs with

ornaments, most of them imitations of those worn by the Masai.

The rims of the upper portions of the ears are pierced and the

lobes distended for the reception of shps of wood, wire, Xe. ;

on the left arm the men wear bracelets of ivory buffalo-horn or

wood, and round their bodies row upon row of dark-blue beads,

AAD,

356 TO KENIA

or leather girdles stitched with beads. Beads made of gleaming
black, cinnabar-red, or pale-yellow coloured grains of various
cereals are also met with.

The Wakikuyu weapons are spears, bows and arrows, long
swords, wooden clubs, and two kinds of shields, both made of
buffalo hides, and adorned in front with black, white, and red
designs. The more modern shields resemble almost exactly
those of the Masai, whilst the older ones are longer and
narrower. The leather quivers hold from ten to fifteen arrows,
the points of which are generally of iron, more rarely of wood
hardened by fire, but they are nearly all poisoned. The swords
have double-edged blades, often several feet long, and are
carried in a handsome sheath stuck on the right side into a
leather belt some four or five inches wide. In the same belt
are worn one or two prettily decorated little clubs, serving
apparently as mere ornaments, for those used in battle are
roughly cut in knotty wood. Nearly every Mkikuyu carries
a walkine-stick, thicker at the bottom than at the top, and as
high, if not higher, than a man, a custom we noticed amongst
the Masai, and later also amongst the Wakamba. Judging
from their weapons, these people are very skilful smiths.

Both sexes chew tobacco and take snuff, keeping the latter
in prettily shaped little cases made of ivory, horn, or nuts,
which they wear round their necks.

There is not the same marked difference between the
married and unmarried in Kikuyuland as amongst the Masai.
The old men take part in war, and the warriors are allowed to
marry and yet remain warriors; in other words, to gorge
themselves with food and stalk about idly all day long, looking
upon work as altogether beneath their dignity. The young
men remain in their fathers’ kraals, but in huts set apart for
them, and free intercourse prevails between the sexes whilst
both are still unmarried.

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WS : ———_— Is SS SSN RST
S SSR = SSA aay
SN CQO LAN a SSS OS,

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eet cepssens SeieananSnn == ss. FAA

WEAPONS OF THE WAKIKUYU.

FINES IMPOSED IN KIKUYULAND 3909

There is no one ruler of the whole of Kikuyuland, nor,
indeed, of separate districts, though perhaps the two head
leibons may be looked upon as representative of the entire
population. Each valley is independent of every other, and
has four elders of its own, namely one Samaki or chief, one

deputy chief, one leibon, and
one lygonani. As amongst the
Masai, the last named, who is
generally an old warrior, 1s the
spokesman in council and the
leader in war, but his actual
power is very small according
to Kuropean notions.

It is the business of the
Samaki to see that punishment
is administered in case of
crime, and amongst the penal-
ties inflicted are the following.
If murder or manslaughter
has been committed, a fine
of 100 oxen must be paid,
the relations of the guilty
man helping if necessary. A
Mkikuyu has the right of
life and death over his own
slaves, but if he kills one be-
longing to another he is fined
four Oxen, which is a note-
worthy fact, as the price of a

AN OLD-FASHIONED KIKUYU SHIELD.

living slave is seldom more than a couple of sheep. For
every sheep or oxen stolen, ten have to be given back, but
if a number of men combine to carry off an ox, each one
need pay one only, and if a man is detected in theft and

(>)

360 TO KENIA

slain by the owner of the property, the latter is not punished
at all.

The Wakikuyu marry, or rather buy, as many wives as
they can afford, and there do not seem to be any special
marriage ceremonies. Funerals are conducted in the simplest
manner also, a feast for which an ox or sheep is sacrificed
alone marking a death. The dead are buried in their own
eround, but those without friends or relations are left lying
where they die. All the
boys are circumcised in
the Masai fashion.

Goats and sheep are

killed by strangling, so
that no blood may be
shed; oxen are slain, as by
the Masai, by a stab from

a knife or spear in the

nape of the neck, after the

animal has been already
half stifled by the tying

TOOLS OF A KIKUYU SMITH. up of the mouth and

nostrils.

It is dificult to get any insight into the religious feelings
of the natives, the only outer and visible sign of which are a
few amulets made of little bundles of horn or wood, &c. We
saw no fetiches, no sacred spots, but there is little doubt that
the Wakikuyu believe in something higher than themselves.
Generally speaking, this something has no corporeal form, and
represents nothing more than a vague feeling after the wonderful
and incomprehensible, but in the present case it has a certain
personality, for itis supposed to dwell upon Kilimara or Kenia.
Whether the natives here do or do not believe in a future state,
we were unable to ascertain.

SOUTHERN PORTION OF KIKUYULAND 561

We only traversed the southern portion of the land inhabited
by the Wakikuyu, and, as far as we can tell from data obtained,
it stretches to the eastern base of Kenia and northwards to the
equator. The portion traversed by us is framed by the districts
of Muimbi, Kitu, Embu, Dianyu, Daicho, and Meru, and the
hitherto unexplored course of the Guaso Nagut probably forms
the northern boundary, the rest of the country resembling
most likely in every respect that part explored by us.

CHAPTER Wil

STAY AT NDORO. ASCENT OF MOUNT KENIA. JOURNEY THROUGH
LEIKIPIA AND TRIP TO LAKE BARINGO

From October 8 to December 7, 1887

A quiet time at the foot of Mount Kenia—A Kikuyu Leibon—Purchase of food—
We get more rain than we want—-The Count starts for Mount Kenia—Result
of rain on the appearance of the country—Count Teleki’s ascent of Kenia—My
trip to the bamboo thicket—Four lions—Our further plans—Count Teleki goes
on in advance—A false alarm—We meet on the Guaso Nyiro—Along the
Aberdare mountains—Masai on the war-path—Nomad Masai—On the Marma-
nett mountains—To Lare lol Morio—Lekibes, Leibon of Leikipia—Division of
the Expedition—Along the Guaso Nyiro — Return to Lare—My march to Lake
Baringo—First sight of the lake—Bad news

Our lonely Ndoro camp was not in particularly beautiful
scenery, for though strictly speaking at the base of Kenia, it
was near the depression between that mountain and the
Aberdare range, with grassy heights slopmg up almost im-
perceptibly on the west to the broken many-peaked masses of
the latter, and on the east to the single dome of the former.
On the north stretched an undulating steppe, and near by
on the south-east flowed a little brook, bordered on the
further side by thick bush. The short rainy season was now
approaching. The woods were in their autumn fohage and
the dry grass of the steppes was of a greyish-yellow colour.
About a hundred paces off in a shallow ravine was a little
swamp overgrown with water-lilies and rushes, to which snipe
and cranes (Balearica pavonina) came down now and then,
whilst the croaking of frogs was continuous. Otherwise the

9

WE CAMP OPPOSITE MOUNT KENIA 363

district seemed deserted alike by men and animals, so that we
were at last able to enjoy that rest in the wilderness for which
we had longed so often in the previous weeks.

Our arrival, of course, brought a little animation into the
scene, and all were soon busily engaged in clearing a place
for our camp, cutting
down trees for the
palisade necessary to
our security, building
huts for the men,
stables for the nume-
rous animals, and
store-houses for the
goods and the provi-
sions we should have
to collect for our
further journey . to
Lake Baringo. We
ourselves stuck to

our tents, which we

preferred to a hut as

we suffered so much

less from vermin in

them. These tents

we pitched facing
Kenia, so that we BALEARICA PAVONINA.

might look at it when-

ever the cloud canopy generally shrouding it from view was
lifted. When we first got to Ndoro we usually got a peep in
the early morning and at sunset, but only a peep lasting a few
minutes. The general appearance of the mountain was very
much what it had been from Kikuyuland, except that the
outlines were more defined, especially those of the steep slopes

364 OUR STAY AT NDORO

of the central pyramid and the rocky culminating peak. The
western side is so precipitous that snow can only remain on it
here and there, and on this account the Masai call it the
Oldonyo egere, or the spotted mountain.’ Kenia, the Wakamba
name, means simply the big mountain, and, as already stated,
the Wakikuyu call it Kilimara.

It was not until late the next morning that the quiet of our
camp, now in complete order, was broken, by the arrival of a
number of Wakikuyu with food for sale; unfortunately only
enough for our daily needs, and when we said we should have
liked more, we were told the harvest had failed.

A. daily distraction which always delighted us afresh was
the return home from pasture of our flocks and herds. It was
pleasant to watch the joy of the mother cows at getting back
to their young, and now and then we had an addition to our
family of animals. We took care to count the cattle, &c.,
every day when they came back, to check any disposition of
our men to add a httle beef to their daily rations. We had
now always plenty of fresh milk, but not any too much, as so
many of our people were suffermg from dysentery.

The natives also brought eight grey donkeys for sale, which
were as welcome as they were unexpected, for of the fifty-nine
with which we had entered Kikuyuland, only twenty-three
remained, and of the twenty-five we had bought on the coast,
not one had survived. In spite of this terrible mortality, how-
ever, I would still advocate the use of donkeys in districts
where it is difficult to get enough food for porters.

On October 13 we had yet another visitor from Kikuyu in
the person of an infirm old man, who brought with him a goat
and a pot of honey in the hope that we would make rain. He
explained that he was the Leibon of the frontier district, and
hearing of our magic power, he had not shrunk from the long

1 The Masai also call it the Oldonyo ebor, or black mountain.—TRANs.

WE ARE ENTREATED TO GIVE RAIN 3695

journey, but had come to beg us to extend to his land the
boon so richly conferred on others. As a matter of course we
did not fail to turn such a favourable opportunity to account.
To begin with, Jumbe Kimemeta, who had grown grey in
negotiations of a similar kind, replied that the great white
medicine-man would have nothing to do with the matter.
He had granted rain again and again, yet when the ground was
saturated, the Wakikuyu behaved badly, repaying all the
Leibon’s trouble with ingratitude. He and his fellow medicine-
men must now see what they could do. At last, after much
persuasion, the white Leibon was induced to think about it,
and our visitor was promised that an appeal should be made
to Ngai, whose dwelling was on the cloud-capped summit of
Kilimara. But that was a long way off, and meanwhile we
must not be allowed to be hungry, but must be supplied
with plenty of food by the Wakikuyu. Overjoyed with the
result of his mission the poor old Leibon hastened back to do
his best to get his people to bring us provisions.

Meanwhile Count Teleki was pressing on with his prepara-
tions for the ascent of Kenia, and started on the morning of
the 17th with Maktubu, Bedue, the Somal, Mahommed Seiff,
and Juma Yussuf, and forty porters, each of the latter carrying
provisions for eight days. Twenty-four sheep were also driven
with them, as these animals stand continuous marching better
than goats can. Gladly would I have gone too, but I was not
in a fit condition for such a journey.

Soon after the Count had left, a large party of Wakikuyu
came into camp laden with provisions, and almost immediately
heavy rain clouds darkened the sky. The rain, however, still
held back, though a change in the weather was evidently
imminent, and just as the old Leibon reappeared the next
morning at the head of some three hundred of his people
bringing food, the downpour began, which lasted for a good

366 OUR STAY AT NDORO

hour. Grey, and trembling with the cold, but at the same
time greatly delighted, the venerable medicine-man led forward
afat black cow and asked for Count Teleki. This was just
what our people wanted, and Jumbe Kimemeta, Kijanja, Juma
Mussa, and everyone else who could speak Kikuyu, cried with
one voice, ‘What! you ask for the Count when you are wet to
the knees; where should the white Leibon be but with Ngai on
Kilimara? Who but he gave the rain?’ and so they went on,
the old Leibon listening delighted, and promising as much food
as we could eat.

We bought 3,500 rations that day, and although the natives
had been weeks collecting all these stores, they sold them at
the very cheap rate of three or four rations for a string of
beads. The next day, though it rained in torrents, fresh piles
of fruit were brought im, and it was all we could do to stitch
the sacks up quickly enough in which were packed the maize,
beans, &c. The green bananas, yams, and potatoes were served
out as rations then and there.

The rain still continued to pour down day after day, only
stopping from about one to three o’clock, and noting this, it
was presently my turn to try my hand at controlling the
weather. On the 21st some 150 Kikuyu women came into
camp, and it seemed as if the flood-gates of heaven were
opened, for our camp was half under water. This was too
much of a good thing, and now the old Leibon came to beg me
to make it fine whilst the market was being held. As it was
then nearly one o’clock, I at once ventured to promise it would
soon stop raining, adding that I must just have time to com- .
municate with the head Leibon on Kilimara. Sure enough the
powers were propitious ; it cleared up at one, and the market
was held without rain.

As our visitors came from a long distance, they got through
their business quickly and went home again, but the old Leibon

‘OdOGN LY dAVO UNO WOW VINA

Ma Li,

a7

ca

OUR CATTLE ARE THREATENED 569

stopped in camp, as he was anxious to wait till Count Teleki’s
return to secure his help in the concoction of certain powerful
medicines. I had been careful to give him nothing, lest I
should stop the supply of provisions.

Meanwhile Jumbe Kimemeta was getting anxious about his
ivory trading. Ten of his men, who had been scouring the
country for five days, had returned, saying they had seen neither
Wandorobbo, Masai, nor Wakikuyu, although, according to
their own account, they had travelled an immense distance.
The next morning Kijanja, who prided himself on his know-
ledge of the country, went off with four men to see what he
could do. Just before he left, we had been warned that the
Wakikuyu of the north-western frontier were contemplating an
attack on our camp. We suspected at once that our cattle
were what they really wanted, and as our herds were out at
pasture some distance off, we thought it best to send some
twenty men out to protect them. We had already, in view of
a possible attack, set up a very high palisade round the camp,
but prepared as we were for eventualities, the sudden sound of
firmg in the afternoon in the direction of our herds took us
aback. It was good to see how eagerly the order ‘To arms’
was responded to, and with what haste the men rushed out to
take part in the fray. But it soon turned out that the alarm
was caused by nothing more serious than the firing of a few
shots by Kijanja and his people in their delight at finding the
Wandorobbo at last. Kijanja had gone as far as Subugo, a
district on the northern base of the Aberdare range, and there
had met the trading caravan which had accompanied us as far
as Turuka. He told us that there was plenty of ivory to be
had there, and, as witnesses to the truth of what he said,
he rather thoughtlessly brought back with him ten Masai
moran, whose appearance in camp, of course, put an end to
our amicable relations with the Wakikuyu. We begged the

MOLT. BB

370 OUR STAY AT NDORO

unwelcome warriors to go away again and to leave our native
friends in peace, but it was too late; the mischief was done;
none of the Wakikuyu dared enter the camp without the escort
of some of our people, and for the next few days no provisions
were brought in at all.

Although we still had a good deal of rain, it was not so
continuous or so heavy as it had been, and we were anxious
for dry weather now, our camp being converted into a swamp,
causing much suffering to our animals, especially to the goats,
who are very sensitive to damp.

An incidental and fortunate result of the wet weather was
that the wild animals, instead of collecting about the watering
places, were now dispersed over the whole country, eagerly
cropping the fresh young grass. Now and then some of them
approached our camp, and one afternoon a little herd of zebras
came so near that I was able to fire at them quite easily. I
wounded three, one of which fell, whilst the other two went
off. Of these two, one had a hind leg broken, and as I was too
weak to go after it, I told the Somal to follow it and despatch
it with the knife. Although the Somal were very fleet of foot,
the wounded animal seemed likely to escape them, springing
off with apparently renewed vigour whenever they- thought
they could catch it, and presently the chase was joined by
three hyenas, who also followed the game, snapping at its
throat and nostrils, apparently determined to wrest it from its
human enemies. However, in the end it was our men who
gave it its death-stroke and brought it home. arly the next
morning we were woke by the unusual sound of the howling
of a number of hyenas, and witnessed at a distance of some 800
paces from the camp, a struggle going on between a wounded
zebra, probably the third of those I had hit the day before,
and some thirty hyenas. The end of the struggle was not
doubtful, but we did not actually see it.

THE COUNT RETURNS FROM KENIA ak

The change brought about in our surroundings by the rain
was charming. Woods and fields, which had been so dry and
dreary-looking, were bursting everywhere with fresh life and
clothed with vivid green. The once barren Ndoro was con-
verted for a time into a perfect garden, and this sudden
awakening of nature was one of the most beautiful things we
witnessed in the course of our whole journey. The district
was now a regular paradise for the botanist, and I noticed
especially an immense number of bulbous plants which would
have delighted the heart of a collector.

It must, however, have been different in the lofty regions of
Kenia where Count Teleki now was. The mountain was con-
tinuously shrouded in heavy clouds, the peak appearing but
seldom, and then only for a few moments at atime. Masses of
snow, extending far down the slopes, betrayed what the state
of things must be on the heights. All these made me very
anxious for the Count’s return, and I was indeed glad to
welcome him back when he appeared at last on the afternoon
of the 25th in good health and spirits. Contrary to my
expectations, the trip had been perfectly successful; Kenia
having been ascended to a height of 15,355 feet, and the
nature of its crater and slopes ascertained. Only about two
or three thousand feet still await their conqueror.

Count Teleki gaveme the following account of his expedition.

‘On October 17 we marched towards Kenia in a north-
easterly direction, crossing three small brooks and camping by
the last. In the ravines of the brooks grew various coniferous
trees mostly resembling the arbor vite variety, but on the slopes
of the mountain the only vegetation was coarse steppe grass. A
good many zebras, elands, and kobus antelopes or water-bucks—
we had seen none of the last since we left Lake Nyiri—were met
with near the clumps of trees, and the presence even of elephants
was betrayed by the noise of the cracking of branches.

BrBaZ,

312 OUR STAY AT NDORO

‘The peak of Kenia was wrapped in heavy ciouds the whole
time, and in the afternoon a storm, accompanied with thunder,
broke above our heads, the scattered woods seeming to draw
nearer to us and to form one unbroken belt. Just before sun-
set the roaring of two hons lead me to go off hunting, but I did
not see them after all.

‘The next day we marched alternately across little clearings
and through woods denser than those lower down, but not so
dense as those on Kilimanjaro, though the trunks of the trees are
loftier. The undergrowth is nothing lke so thick here, and the
quantities of moss and interlacing creepers are also wanting, so
that there were really no difficulties in this part of the march,
and the forest belt was crossed in an hour. At aheight of about
7,800 feet begins the bamboo thicket, at first consisting only
of pliant cylinders, which, however, grow as closely together
as reeds, and would be quite impassable if a path had not been
trodden through them by elephants and buffaloes. And even as
it was we often had to use the axe and to part the bamboo
stems, dripping wet with rain, with our outstretched arms, a
most arduous and exhausting task.

‘ A little before noon we reached a small brook and camped.
We were now at a height of about 8,600 feet, but there were
still a great many wild animals, and we were surprised to see
numerous long-tailed apes (? Colobus quereza) and a leopard
which suddenly announced its presence with a growl quite
close to us, only however to disappear in the thicket again
immediately. The stillness of the woods was often broken by
the shrill cry of whole flocks of green-feathered red-cheeked
parrots, of the size of doves, with green plumage dashed with
red about the head. We also noticed several gallinaceous birds
about the size of a wood-grouse, with a reddish-brown white-
spotted breast, rather like a tailless pheasant, but it was im-
possible to bring any of them down.

THROUGH THE BAMBOO THICKET wien)

‘The next morning our path led through more bamboo
thickets and it poured with rain all the time. The higher we got
the thicker grew the stems, and the more arduous was the work
of forcing a passage. Not until the last hour did little clear-
ings here and there facilitate our progress. At the beginning of
this tramp we had to
cross a stream more
than 18 feet wide, and
towards noon we came
to another httle brook
and camped by it for [7@ y) Af 2
the night. We were | | iy i a
now at an altitude of te Ce
about 10,000 feet at
the upper edge of
the belt of bamboo,
beyond which various

trees appear, chiefly

of the coniferous va-
riety frequently met

with on Kilimanjaro,
with willow-like but
stiff folhage. We did
not again notice bamboos and trees

srowing together. The fog and rain
had thus far made it quite impossible
to take our bearings, and I had to sok As ne dk Fe oe
depend entirely on my compass. |

‘On the 20th the ascent became noticeably steeper. At a
height of about 10,170 feet we left the bamboo thicket behind ;
at 10,500 feet trees became much less numerous, and beyond
that only a few isolated specimens occurred. A kind of swamp

grass growing in little clumps, various Lobeliaceze, one of

BTA OUR STAY AT NDORO

which bore flowers not unlike those of the European sage, ferns,
and other flowerless plants covered the swampy slopes of the
mountain. It rained constantly on this march; the tem-
perature was + 8° Centigrade, and the condition of our men,
who were grey and shivering with the cold, led me to decide
on halting before noon. We were now at a height of 11,600
feet, and as I meant to make the rest of the ascent alone, I let
the men build good huts here. There was plenty of wood,
moss, &c., but everything reeked with damp, and it was a long
time before we could heht our first fire.

‘It cleared a little in the afternoon, and I was able to take
a few observations to help me in the further chmb. I found
that the course we had taken had been by no means badly
chosen, as we had reached the base of the loftiest peak of
the mountain, Further up I came to many perpendicular
precipices, but I always found room to chmb between them.
The slopes were, in many places, dotted with remarkable
isolated column-like pieces of rocks from 60 to 160 feet high.
From nearly every cleft of the mountain flowed a lttle brook
on the swampy banks of which grew various plants, chiefly
Lobeliaceee, with others resembling the Senecio Johnstonia,
mosses and ferns. The occurrence of numbers of a kind of
Nectarinia,' ten or twelve appearing at once, was remarkable at
this height. Mahommed brought me a nest with a young one
init. J put it on the grass in front of the tent in the hope of
enticing the parents to it, and was rewarded by the appearance
of the male in all the beauty of his bridal plumage.

‘On the 21st I tried to go further up the mountain with a
few men, but fog and rain soon compelled me to return.

‘After a night during which the thermometer fell for the

' Dr. L. L. R. von Libeman, curator of the zoological department of the
Natural History Museum in Vienna, named these birds Nectarunia Deckent, after
Baron von der Decken.

ASCENT OF KENIA 319

first time to 0° Centigrade, a moderately clear morning broke,
and I started once more with Maktubu, Mahommed, and ten
men. As I had no intention of spending the night higher
up, we did not have to take tents, covers, &c. We were off
at six minutes past four, and after an hour’s stiff march halted
to collect firewood, for which the dry stems of the Senecio
Johnston, still plentiful here, though of rare and isolated oc-
currence higher up, served admirably. We then pushed steadily
on up avery steep ridge clothed with moss a foot deep, having
all the time on the left the bed of a somewhat important stream
fed by countless little rills trickling between the ferns and
under the moss and giving the slopes of the mountain quite a
swampy character. At a height of 13,100 feet we saw the
last examples of animal life of any size: a humming-bird, a
pretty thrush-like bird, and a _ light-brown hairy tailless
marmot. We came here, too, upon newly fallen snow which,
as it thawed, still further increased the difficulties of climbing.

‘At ten o’clock we had reached an altitude of 13,600 feet.
My barefooted companions were suffering terribly from cold,
although the thermometer marked + 7° Centigrade, so I decided
to climb the rest of the way alone. After a good meal I left
all the men but Mahommed Seiff, who would not be left behind,
round their fires, and started at noon, reaching at half-past two
the top of the ridge we had all along been climbing. For the
last hour we had been passing over hardened ice, covered with
a layer of fresh snow a foot deep. Different varieties of
Senecio and luxuriant patches of moss occurred as far up as
the snow line, which is at a height of about 14,750 feet. The
ridge which at first had led direct for the summit had, during
the last hour’s march, turned off towards the south-east, and it
now became clear that we ought really to have chosen the
ridge on the right bank of the stream, as that leads straight
up to the top. From where I stood, however, I could tell that

DEO OUR STAY AT NDORO

we could only have done so with very great difficulty, the
bank on that side rising perpendicularly to a height of some
300 to 450 feet. An equally deep ravine which would, how-
ever, have been easier to scale, and part of the wall of the crater
alone separated me now from the crater itself, but as that wall
was lower than where I stood, my view was not interrupted.
‘The Kenia crater must be from 10,000 to 12,000 feet in
circumference, and the bottom, which is pretty uniformly
covered with snow and ice, 1s some 650 feet lower than the
rim. The melted snow in the crater finds an outlet at the foot
of the wall of rock and feeds the brook along which I had
ascended. It would not have been difficult to climb to the
erater, but I hesitated on account of the loose débris on the
wall being covered with a deep layer of snow. On my left
rose the rugged peak of Kenia, all that was left of the original
cone. From its steep sides quantities of ice must often roll
down to form the chaotic masses piled up at its base. The
columnar-like phonolithic rock of the highest peak 1s of a light-
brown colour, and the actual peak is split and rises up in two
pillars. The western slopes are exceedingly abrupt, but
towards the north-east and the interior of the crater the
declivities are gentler. These slopes are covered with a
uniform mantle of snow. On the north-east side of the crater-
brim rises an unimportant snow-capped peak with apparently
a steep outer slope. On the south and east certain portions of
the inner crater-wall are quite perpendicular and free from
ice, but elsewhere these walls slope down to the bottom of the
crater at a gentle angle. On my right at the outer base of the
western crater-wall was a little lake, the extent of which south-
wards I could not make out from where I stood, on account of
the intervening walls of rock, but an outlet would only be
possible on the south. According to the reading of my aneroid
I was now at aheight of 15,355 feet above the sea-level, and

AT A HEIGHT OF 15,350 FEET yl

this figure can be looked upon as the approximate height
which this part, the truncated cone, of Kenia reaches. Fog
very soon began to gather and the temperature varying between
+4-5° and +7° Centigrade tried my companion too much, so
after taking some boiling-point observations, I started at three
oclock to return to my people, passing on the way another
little lake with a westerly trend which had escaped my notice
going up. We did not stop anywhere again, but got back to
the tent about six o'clock in the evening.

‘The next morning we returned to our old camping-place in
the bamboo thicket, and on the way down I was fortunate
enough to shoot a dwarf gazelle covered with greyish-brown
hair. On the 24th we reached our lowest Kenia camp, and the
next day started for Ndoro, finding the scenery wonderfully
improved by the quantities of rain which had fallen, the
previously barren steppes being now bright with fresh green
grass and many-hued flowers. The wet weather had also
driven the wild animals down to the plains ; countless herds of
buffaloes, zebras, and antelopes were roaming about them, and
the lions dwelling in the numerous caves at the base of the
mountain must have been having a very good time of it.’

So far Count Teleki. Of course our stay in Ndoro was now
nearly at an end, the supplies of food from the Wakikuyu had
almost ceased during the last few days, and it would not do to
depend on any considerable increase in the stores already
collected. It was time to break up our camp, and I could not
resist my longing to see something of Kenia from a little
nearer, so I begged for three days’ delay so that I might at
least get as far as the belt of forest and the bamboo thicket.

It rained unceasingly the day of the Count’s return, and the
morning of the 27th was dull and threatening, but I could not
bear to delay, and started for Kenia with Maktubu as guide
and thirty men. After a long march over grassy, gently

378 OUR STAY AT NDORO

ascending slopes, through scattered bush haunted by kobus
and other antelopes, wild boars, &c., we passed Count Teleki’s
first camping-place at noon, and pressing on, halted at a
little clearing on the edge of a ravine overgrown with vege-
tation, where Count Teleki had advised us to camp, as he had
heard lons roaring hard by. But the march had pretty well
exhausted my newly recovered strength, and I was completely
done for when we reached the spot.

I had, however, shot a kobus antelope on the way, so that
the men were in capital spirits, eager to get a hedge up round
the camp, so as to begin their cooking. These halts in the
wilderness with a_ small
party are really among the
pleasantest of our reminis-
cences of the journey.

Lower and lower crept
the fog from the mountain
top, and soon the rain
came down in one con-
tinuous torrent. But this
did not damp our ardour

at all, only higher and
HORNS OF KOBUS ANTELOPE. higher rose the flames

from the fires, and closer

and closer gathered the groups about them, whilst the wa-
sumgumsu or talk became more intimate and pathetic. But
now the shades of night are falling, and the time approaches
when we may expect to hear the voice of the lion or of the
leopard. The voices sink to whispers, and then gradually
cease. But there seems after all to be no danger, for not a
sound breaks the silence of the wood, and the chattering begins
again more eagerly than ever, the men talking about their
wives and children, Zanzibar, and so on, till suddenly a

oe. an

ON THE TRACK OF A LION 379

terrible roar from the neighbouring ravine strikes them all
dumb, whilst the only answer to the challenge is the flinging
of fresh fuel upon the fires, the leaping up of higher, brighter
flames, but there is an end to conversation, and all is still in
camp now.

After a night of continuous rain, the morning broke fairly
clear, and in spite of my aching hmbs I was up and off betimes
with Maktubu and a few men in the hope of reaching the
bamboo district. We had only been a few minutes on the way
when the roar of a hon not far off brought us to a standstill.
I must explain that it is extremely difficult to tell from his
voice how far off the king of beasts 1s. One minute you think
he is at your elbow, and the next, as the echoes of his roar roll
through the woods beyond, you fancy he is at a considerable
distance. ‘This time he was by the brook, about 400 paces off.
We hastened there to find deep footprints in the sand, with the
water in them still in motion, but we saw nothing else, and
another roar soon told us that the huge creature had taken
fight. We heard him yet once again from a long way off,
which decided us not to follow him, as it would have delayed
us toomuch. We marched slowly upwards through a beautiful
old forest, reaching, in about an hour, the edge of the bamboo
thicket, entering which walking became anything but a pleasure,
the stems being very close together with only here and there a
little clearing. Once we were just going to step into such an
opening when we saw a solitary old buffalo bull lying on the
grass at about forty paces off. He gazed at us in astonishment
for a moment, and then got up. But my 500 Express was
already in position ; a shot at the shoulder brought him down,
and he lay motionless on his side. Iwas about to rush towards
him when Maktubu urged me to fire again first, as buffaloes
are so marvellously tenacious of life that it is impossible ever
to be sure they are really dead. As this was the first buffalo L

380 OUR STAY AT NDORO

had had to deal with, I took his advice, but I had scarcely
raised my gun before the animal was on his legs again opposite
to us. After a second shot in the shoulder he fell once more,
and lay with outstretched legs. We felt sure he was dead now,
but he got up, though evidently in great suffering, and went
slowly off, taking no notice of us. For a few moments he was
hidden by the bushes between us, but directly he reappeared
I greeted him with a charge from my elephant-gun. For a
third time he went down, but rallied yet again, and the next
moment he had disappeared in the bamboo thicket. After
these proofs of his marvellous vitality, I thought it wise not to
go after him at once, so I lit a pipe and waited, whilst the men
cut down the papyrus stems we meant to take with us. About
half an hour later we went in search of the buffalo, but though
we saw a great deal of blood, the spoor was often interrupted
by pools of water, and in the end we went back to the camp
without finding him.

During a short hunting excursion in the stiernonm I came
upon a little family of forest antelopes, father, mother, and
child, but unfortunately I was only able to bring down the
mother. We saw very few forest antelopes on our journey,
and this was the first we killed. When alarmed or dying,
these animals give a loud cry, not unlike the bleating of a calf.
The female I shot was of a much lighter colour than the male,
and the characteristic white spots on the hind legs and face
were very faint.

On the 29th we started to return to Ndoro, The night had
been cold and clear, and the march in the early morning fresh-
ness amongst the blossoming shrubs and bushes was perfectly
delightful. We saw numerous herds of buffaloes at a little
distance off, and zebras roamed by hundreds on either side of
our path. Wishing to give my people a good feed before we
got back to camp, I left them behind and went off hunting

WE GIVE OUT RAIN MEDICINES, ETC. 381

some zebras. I had cocked my gun and was just about to fire
when I heard mufiled cries of ‘Bwana! Bwana!’ from my people,
who were some 200 paces behind me. I looked round and,
noticing that the men were beckoning to me, I uncocked my
weapon and hastened back to find the cause of alarm to be
four lions, two males, a female, and a cub, hurrying along some
few hundred paces off. They had been making for the same
group of zebras as myself, but my appearance had startled
them. We saw no other lions but these on this trip.

We resumed our march after this incident, and about noon
reached the Ndoro camp, where ali had been going on as usual,
except that the supply of provisions had ceased, the natives
being still afraid of the Masai they had seen with us. The old
Leibon, however, still remained in camp, as he had not yet got
the medicine he wanted. We told him we must have a big
market before his wishes could be gratified.

He promised us one, and both sides nobly fulfilled their
obligations. The market was held, and soon afterwards he was
in possession of some of all our remedies for suffering. His
requirements made rather a formidable list. Of course rain
medicine came first, then he must have a medicine against all
enemies in general, and one against the Masai in particular,
one against cattle disease, one to keep the birds off the fields,
and so on. But we were equal to every emergency, and pro-
duced old cocoa tins, mustard, alum, slips of paper, and so on,
winding up with a bottle of effervescing water, which he put to
-his lips m fear and trembling, yet with eager curiosity, and
emptied. To wind up in the most approved African fashion
we spat in his face and on his chest and hands, and who was
happier than he at that moment? Gladly would he have seen
at once the working of our remedies, but we assured him that
they would not take effect for eight days, as we must first
communicate with the great Neai on Kenia.

382 OUR STAY AT NDORO

We were now ready to start, and every day we lingered at
Ndoro was but lost time. Our flocks and herds had been
reduced by one thing and another to some 40 oxen and 400
sheep and goats, of which it would be necessary to take
the greatest care, now that we were about to pass through
districts tenanted only by nomad tribes or agriculturists,
themselves in want of food. The animals were of special value
to us Europeans who lived almost entirely on the flesh of sheep
and goats, and to our Somal whose religion required them
rather to starve than to eat the flesh of any long-necked
animal,’ or of any creature killed without the ceremonies
ordered by their code of ritual. So far it had been difficult to
get enough small animals to meet all our requirements, but now
we hoped, especially as all the sickly sheep and goats had
either died or been slaughtered, that we should be able to
manage to avoid losing any more. |

Our stock of beans, maize, millet, &c., would, moreover,
last from twenty to twenty-four days, and it would only take
us fourteen or eighteen days to get to Nyemps, a Wakwafi
settlement on the south of Lake Baringo, where we were told
we should be able to obtain a fresh supply of provisions. We
could therefore make our minds easy about this trip, only we
had to keep our promise to Jumbe Kimemeta to let him have
a chance of buying ivory in Leikipia, and were also anxious
ourselves to explore the so far unknown course of the Guaso
Nyiro, and to determine the position of a certain Lake Lorian
through which it was said to flow.

According to Kimemeta, Subugo, inhabited by Masai and
Wandorobbo, where he hoped to buy plenty of ivory, was
situated in the highlands about half way to Lake Baringo.
He would want two or three weeks for his purchases, and as

1 The camel is an exception, but the flesh of the zebra or of any creature
resembling an ass is haram or forbidden.

I AM LEFT BEHIND AGAIN rors

we could not stop in such a poor district so long with the whole
caravan, we decided to leave a portion only there, and press on
with the main body to Nyemps. Some of the men left behind
at Subugo were to be sent to explore the Guaso Nyiro, whilst
those who arrived first at Nyemps were to get everything
ready for the further journey to the unknown districts north
of Lake Baringo, so that when we were once all together again
there might be no further delays.

All this sounded simple, but it is rare indeed for such
programmes to be successfully carried out, and our difficulties
now were greatly increased by the fact that we had no map to
help us. Information obtained is generally untrustworthy, and
never to be relied on at all for more than a few days’ distance.
Out of hundreds of rumours and contradictory assertions it is
all but impossible to get a definite idea of what 1s really betore
a caravan, and woe to the expedition the food and water supply
of which is uncertain. Our Expedition would without doubt
have been ruined a dozen times if we-had not made a point of
being always prepared for the worst.

A glance at our staff was enough to convince us that we
should have to proceed in detachments, as with all the extra
food we had to carry we could not hope to take all the loads
on at once. So Count Teleki decided to press on two days in
advance with the main body, leaving me behind at Ndoro with
the rest of the loads and fiftymen. Hestarted on November 1.

During my absence on Kenia, the Count had discovered
that the neighbouring swamp was haunted by numerous snipe,
and he had been able to vary the monotony of the daily diet
with them. I now gave up my two afternoons of waiting to
sport, discovering that the swamp was also extremely rich in
botanical treasures, including beautiful lotuses, with wild
flowers growing in quantities near the edge.

I did not expect the porters who had gone with the Count

384 OUR STAY AT NDORO

back till the third day, so I tried to turn the time to account
by getting in some more food, sending ten men to the Wa-
kikuyu to escort them to the camp if they were still afraid of
the Masai. They returned late in the afternoon with the news
that we might expect a market to be held the next day.

I must explain here that for some weeks we had had a
cuest In our camp in the person of a Masai or a Mkwafi, a so-
called Neukop (it is almost impossible to distinguish between
these two tribes’), who had told us that he had been on a visit
to some relations in Kikuyuland, and was waiting for his
people, who would soon be coming to the pastures of Ndoro ;
he did not dare go alone to Angata Bus, where his brother was
now staying. I had always had my suspicions of the fellow,
and was very much vexed and dismayed when I found he had
gone with my messengers to the Wakikuyu, and had actually
remained with the latter. My own opinion was that he
belonged to some of the Wakwafi settled on the borders of
Kikuyuland, and was really a spy in their service: His not
returning now gave colour to my suspicions.

All remained quiet until dinner-time, and I was just going
to begin my lonely meal when some of my men rushed in with
faces full of dismay to tell me that immense numbers of natives
were coming down upon the camp from Kenia. The news
was confirmed by Kharscho, whose expression showed how
imminent he considered the danger. Knife and spoon were
flung down, and with my Express rifle in my hand, I rushed
out of the camp, as I could see nothing from it on account of
the height of the palisade. A broad, black stream was
certainly advancing upon us, and I had not a doubt of its being
the Wakikuyu come to take the long-threatened vengeance.
My little handful of men leant against the fence in breathless

1 In the next chapter the author gives the previous history of the Wakwafi,
showing that they and the Masai were originally one people.—TRans.

A TIME OF TERRIBLE SUSPENSE . 385

expectation, gazing at the moving crowds, the numbers of
which were ever on the increase. Presently they seemed to
mass themselves together in a shallow ravine some 2,000 paces
from us, then they divided into two parts, one making for the
thicket on the south, the other surrounding us. Then the
darkness hid them from our sight. I felt sure our guest had
had something to do with it all; he had given notice perhaps
of the division of the caravan, and it had been decided to
attack the little remnant left at Ndoro.

IN ANXIOUS EXPECTATION.

Although our camp had a good fence, it was spread over
too wide a surface for us to hope to be able to defend it against
such overwhelming odds, I therefore hastily sent my men
outside, dividing them into detachments, so as to distribute their
streneth until we saw where the attack was to be made, when
we could concentrate them easily. I myself remained with
Qualla, Kimemeta, and a few Somal at the spot from which we
had first seen the approach of the enemy. Again and again

VOL, I. CC

386 OUR STAY AT NDORO

we were startled by the cry of some bird, which we took for
the sound of a gun, or the croak of a frog, making us think the
charge would be from the direction of the swamp. But we
waited in vain; nothing happened, and we began to think it
had been a false alarm after all; that the warriors were Masai
about to make a raid on the Wakikuyu. Again, however,
something convinced us that we were ourselves in peril; we
hugged our weapons yet more closely, and peered yet more
earnestly into the darkness. Heaven too, on which we had
relied as our best helper, seemed about to fail us, for the
full moon was hidden by clouds, and a heavy rain began
to fall.

The time dragged slowly on, and I felt it was no use
spending the whole night staring into the gloom, so I returned
to my tent to finish up the cold remains of my interrupted
repast. Then I paced slowly round the silent and deserted
camp, mentally reviewing all that had occurred, now laughing
at myself for being so easily alarmed, telling myself that most
likely I had taken a herd of buffaloes for an armed force, now
thinking that I had underrated the danger which threatened
us. At midnight I decided to let half the men go to rest,
whilst the other half kept watch. Tired out, I then flung my-
self upon my bed, and lulled by the monotonous cries of the
guards and the perpetual drip, drip of the rain, I was soon
sound asleep. The night had passed over quietly, and the only
token of the past alarms was the reiterated cry of ‘ Heheu ’
from the sentinels. Qualla came to greet me with ‘ All right,
not an enemy in sight,’ and I, feeling sure that we had been
victims of an illusion, merely replied by asking him to go out
and look at the tracks left by the disturbers of our rest. Qualla,
Kharscho, and Ai Mahommed shouldered their guns and went
off for Kenia through the early morning fog.

November 2 passed over quietly but without the promised

TWO PARTIES OF MASAI MORAN 387

market, and on the morning of the 3rd Maktubu returned with
his hundred men.

As usual 1 received a letter from the Count, who was
camped two marches off on the Guaso Nyiro. He had met on
the first day a party of eighty Masai moran who were on their
way to attack the Wakikuyu. As this was very much against
our interests, Count Teleki tried to dissuade them from making
a raid, and when they said they had eaten nothing for two
days and must get oxen he promised to give them some him-
self. So they followed his caravan towards his first stopping-
place on the most southerly tributary of the Guaso Nyiro.
Just before they reached it, however, another troop of moran,
this time some 150 strong, appeared, and Count Teleki had an
amusing opportunity of seeing the courage of the dreaded
eattle-lifters tested. Hach party, taking the other for Wa-
kikuyu, showed the greatest alarm ; the new-comers withdrew
into the bush, whilst the warriors with the caravan refused to
advance another step, even after the Count had made them
look through a telescope at the supposed Wakikuyu and
proved that they were Masai like themselves. Not until
Count Teleki promised to protect them in case of an attack
would they budge an inch. Arrived in camp, the two parties
fraternised and made up for previous terrors by wild dancing
and singing. Having consumed a couple of oxen they all went
off together in a north-westerly direction.

This turned out to be but a manceuvre, for on the afternoon
of Maktubu’s return seven Kikuyu men came into the Ndoro
camp, evidently in a great state of terror, for not until they
were inside the palisade did they restore their arrows to the
quivers. Silently they squatted down and then begged for a
shauri, in which thev told us that they had come to explain
the breaking of their promise about the market. Two days
before some hundred of their men and women who were on the

ca 2

388 OUR STAY AT NDORO

way to us with provisions were attacked by a party of Masai,
who had killed fifteen of them, including several women.
Yesterday another party of moran had come down upon them,
but this time they had been prepared, and the ageressors had
been sent back with bloody heads. Our visitors went on to
say that although we were to blame for all this, for we had set
the Masai on their track, they would yet keep faith with us
by supplying us with food, only we must fetch it ourselves;
they could not trust even our men, as some of their women had
been ill-treated by our messengers. Finally they inquired
whether we had stopped the rain because they had not brought
us food.

We thanked them, explained that we had to leave the next
morning, and dismissed them with presents. We then sum-
moned the unchivalrous culprits, the ten men I had sent to
the Kikuyu frontier with Al ben Omari, and chastised them
well in the presence of their comrades.

We wished to reach the Count’s camp in one day’s march,
so we started before daybreak on November 4, leaving behind
us the palisade within which we had lived for a whole month,
and with which I had very pleasant associations, as I had there
recovered my health.

We pressed rapidly forward in the cool early morning,
crossed a brook flowing from Kenia, which delayed us a litle,
and then marched over the grass-clad steppe towards the base
of the Aberdare range, passing numerous Masai kraals, now
deserted by their owners, but from which we could form a very
good idea of the appearance Ndoro would present a fortnight
hence, when the lords of the land were back and their herds of
cattle were roaming about in the open. As we approached
the highlands in the west the scenery gradually became less
charming, there were fewer flowers, the grass was sparser, and
bare voleanic rocks rose up here and there. The path led

WE TRY MUSTARD AS A WAR MEDICINE 389

us along the base of the Aberdare range and over flat-topped
ridges in a north-westerly direction, the monotony broken now
and then by little groves of acacias, amongst which occurred a
few isolated morio trees. We meta good many parties of Masai
moran who wanted us to hold shauris with them, but we had
no time to lose and hastened on. ‘They were evidently on the
war-path, for the blades of their spears were smeared with red
fat, or wrapped round with rags, to prevent them from catching
the light and betraying their owners. At two oclock we
reached the camp, which was pitched beside a brook in the
shade of a group of fine trees, including examples of the beauti-
ful Calodendron capense, Thbe.

Our march through Kikuyuland had made an immense
impression upon the Masai, who were convinced that we owed
our safety entirely to our powerful war medicines. The 300
moran who were then raiding the Wakikuyu were so sure of
this that they came back to our camp again to try and secure
some of the wonder-working remedies for themselves. ‘They
deputed two moruu to negotiate the matter with us, standing
quietly aloof just outside the camp themselves, without asking
for any hongo. To get rid of them the Count gave them a
little box of mustard, telling them that to secure its efficacy
they must camp for four days on the Neare Nyuki, a little
stream rising on the north-west slope of Kenia. This condition
was probably too hard for them, for, after lone consideration,
they gave us back the box of mustard, telling us that it would
not do to consult two leibons at once, as, when the time arrived
for the division of the spoil, 1t would be impossible to say what
belonged to each. Of course, we were sorry not to be able to
help our friends the Wakikuyu, but at the same time we were
rather glad to be relieved of responsibility in the matter, and
we were delighted to hear later that the contemplated raid had
been altogether a failure.

390 OUR STAY AT NDORO

It was impossible to do any further marches in detachments,
as it would have delayed us far too long, so we had to resort
to our old plan of overloading all the men and animals, which
overloading would not last long, however, as five or six loads
were eaten up every day.

The next two days we continued our march in a north-
westerly direction over the flat spurs of the Aberdare range,
the valleys and ravines of which were well wooded, whilst the
exposed portions were clad with nothing but a little dry steppe
erass, giving us the impression that there had been less rain
and that the soil was far less fertile here than in the plains.
We continued the march at an altitude of from about 6,500 to
7,000 feet above the sea, enjoying all the time an extensive
panorama over the undulating highlands, which, averaging some
6,000 feet in height, and beginning at Kenia and the Settima
range, stretch northwards as far as the Loroghi chain and form
the plateau of Leikipia. On the north of Kenia rises the
Doenyo lol Deika, the Pigtail Peak of the Masai.

The second day we camped on the most southerly of the
four Nairotia brooks, which, uniting after a short easterly course,
flow into the Guaso Nyiro, giving their name to the whole of the
district watered by them, which is pretty constantly occupied
by the Wandorobbo. A little before our arrival a party of
nomad Masai had begun to prepare for habitation an old kraal
quite close to the site of our camp. We could see some of them
taking the ox-hide pack-saddles off the donkeys, whilst the
women were hurrying about with their household goods or
covering in the old huts with skins. It was not long before
some of the quarrelsome young warriors came to us, dancing
and singing, to ask for their hongo.

During our march of November 7, which brought us to the
(Guaso Songoroi, we enjoyed the very interesting spectacle of a
troop of nomad Masai on their way down from the western

WE CROSS: THE EQUATOR 391

slopes of the Aberdare mountains to the pastures of Ndoro.
Their herds of cattle were especially picturesque as they
streamed down in different groups from the highlands, preceded
and followed by the men and women who had charge of them,
the former carrying the baby calves in their arms, whilst the
latter were encumbered with all manner of odds and ends,
and had, moreover, to look after the oxen and donkeys laden
with hides, milk cans, the materials of the huts, &c.

A march of many hours brought us the next day to the
northern limit of the Aberdare range, which is divided from,
or rather connected with the Marmanett range by a lofty
tableland inhabited almost permanently by the Masai, and
frequently by the Wandorobbo, on account of its good
pastures. The Masai call this tableland Angata Bus.

We proceeded at a height varying from about 6,500 to
7,000 above the sea-level, the vegetation on the slopes and in
the ravines increasing as we advanced, the northern portion
of the Aberdare range being much better wooded than the
southern. The. principal trees resembled the cypress, with
numerous examples of the willow-hke leaved conifers, with a
few acacias, branched euphorbias, and isolated specimens of the
morio tree and leleshwa shrub.'

We halted by the almost dried-up bed of a brook, and a
careful observation taken at mid-day gave N. lat. 0°0/11”, so
that for the first time on our travels we had passed the
equator. We therefore called our camp here Equator Camp.
We had now passed through Lashau, which with Page, Ndoro,
Nairotia, &c., make up the province of Leikipia.

On November 9 we camped in a pretty clearing overgrown
with soft sward on the left bank of the Guaso Narok, which is

1 We met with this plant, one of the Composite (Tarchonanthus camphoratus, L.),
so characteristic of certain districts of Kast Africa, for the first time between the
northern frontier of Kikuyuland and Ndoro, but we had not seen it again until now.

392 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

’

the northern outlet of the so-called Kope-kope swamps situated
somewhere on the north-west base of the Aberdarerange. Its
upper course is broken by a waterfall, which the English
traveller Thomson named after himself, but the natives call it
the Ururo, or the roar of the water, and the river only
becomes the Guaso Narok, or black stream, below the falls.

On the 10th we entered the district of Subugo in the
Marmanett highlands, where Jumbe Kimemeta intended to
purchase ivory. A fine continuous rain had harassed our march
through the well-wooded and thickly populated neighbourhood.
We passed one very large Masai kraal, consisting of several
hundred huts on alittle grassy hill, which had looked from the
distance ike a regular circular fort. From this kraal the in-
habitants came out in crowds to watch us pass, laughing
merrily the while. I noticed that new kraals, before they become
bleached by rain and sun, look quite black.

We pitched our camp in a pretty valley through which
flowed a little swampy brook. The neighbouring heights were
‘draped in mist; a fine cold rain was falling, and the appearance
of the district with its green erass and beautiful oak-like trees
was quite European. We were now at a height of 7,287 feet,
and the thermometer registered +13° Centigrade. The rain
prevented the natives from visiting us in great numbers, and
those who did come crowded into the shelter of our tents.
To our surprise there were immense numbers of flies here. It
was cold enough for us to be glad to get out our winter
clothes, and we were quite comfortable in them. Our men
did not fare so well, but gathered about the fires with chatter-
ing teeth, whilst the shivering donkeys and goats, instead of
feeding, squeezed themselves in between the men to try and
share the warmth. We remained where we were the next day,
as, so far, we had not been able to open negotiations with the

Wandorobbo.

A WOUNDED BUFFALO 393

Before sunrise the day after, the appearance of a herd of
buffaloes on the neighbouring height brought us a little distrac-
tion. We had done no hunting for a long time, and the cries
of Mamma wale! and Boge wale! (‘There is meat! there go
buffaloes!’) with which our men greeted the sight of the animals
exercised as great a charm as ever. Count Teleki sprang out
of bed immediately and was soon dressed, but the herd had

EQUATOR CAMP.

already begun to disperse. The Count, however, came up with
some stragglers and got a shot at a cow. The wounded animal
retired into the bush and Count Teleki followed her. Pre-
sently he heard her heavy breathing, and, approaching carefully,
he could make out that she had got wind of him and was on
her feet again. A minute later she dashed past him, but some
forty paces further on she fell again. He could only see her
head now, but he fired again and fortunately hit. She sprang

(2)

394 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

up, got a second bullet in the shoulder, staggered forward a
few steps and rolled over, dead.

There was a path near our camp much used by the Masai,
and almost every hour numbers passed along it, driving before
them heavily laden donkeys and oxen. They were on their
way to the treeless pastures of Angata Bus, and were taking
with them the materials for making their huts. The effect of
the loads was very remarkable, the hides being piled up high
above the backs of the animals, whilst the bundles of long
bent laths fastened to the sides of the saddles trailed behind
their bearers like sledges. ‘The use of oxen as pack-animals is
rare amongst the Masai, and this was the first time we had
seen them with their loads.

Towards noon we were surprised by a visit from seven
Wanewana, a fresh proof to us that travelling in the districts
inhabited by the much-dreaded Masai was really without any
special danger. They brought the news that an ivory caravan,
some 170 strong, under the leadership of Mpujui, had reached
the Guaso Narok, and were about to search the neighbour-
hood for Wandorobbo. We were astonished at finding that
Mpujui, whom we had met at Little Arusha, was back again in
Leikipia already. He deserves special mention on account
of the ready intelligence, courage, and thorough knowledge
of the Masai language which distinguish him amongst the
caravan leaders of the day, who have degenerated sadly from
their enterprisme predecessors of some twenty years ago, who
would boldly penetrate into absolutely unknown districts in
search of ivory. Of course we except from these strictures
our faithful friend and comrade Jumbe Kimemeta, who is still
«a most worthy representative of his class. Mpujui has visited
Leikipia nearly every year for a long time now, and knows the
whole district very well.

During the afternoon a heavy storm broke over the valley,

Ce

A MORAN AND HIS DOJE CAUGHT THIEVING 395

and during it, of course, all the natives slunk away, a moran
and his doje turning it to account by carrying off several hundred
strings of beads. They were both caught and their booty taken
from them. The moran was well flogged by our Somal and
turned out of camp in the midst of universal mockery, but
his disappointed lady-love was allowed to go off scot free.

On the morning of November 12 we left the fogey Subugo

NOMAD MASAT.

valley, rounded the northern group of heights on the east, and
after a short march along their north-eastern base, camped
hear a swampy reed-erown ravine. We were still some 6,500
feet above the sea-level, but there was a noticeable difference in
the temperature. The district we were now in was known as
the Lare lol Morio. Lare signifies generally a small swamp fed
from springs, so that Lare lol Morio means the swamp with
the morio trees. We were to make acquaintance with many

396 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

another Lare. - I may here remark that the Masai dialect is
marvellously rich in descriptive terms, different words indicat-
ing the nature of vegetation, the characteristics of rivers, brooks,
springs, pools, the colour, size, and age of their cattle, and, as
has already been commented on, of members of their tribe.

Here was to take place the contemplated division of the
caravan, and we at once set to work to put up a small but
very strong palisade to protect the men who were to be left
behind. Count Teleki had decided to go on himself with the
main body of the caravan to Lake Baringo, and to leave me,
Qualla, Jumbe Kimemeta, and the rest of the porters behind.
Whilst Kimemeta was busy with his ivory buying, I was to
explore the course of the Guaso Nyiro as far as was possible
in the twenty days which were all I could have for the purpose.

We pressed the work of lading the oxen, &c., forward so
rapidly that we finished everything three days sooner than we
had expected. The natives disturbed us very little; most of
the Masai had already left for fresh pastures, and the Wa-
ndorobbo, who also avoided the camp, told us with evident
relief that the rest were soon to follow. ‘To make up for the
absence of visitors we were dreadfully worried with the in-
describable numbers of flies, which left us not one moment’s
peace and drove us to take refuge as soon as possible in a
little wood a hundred paces further up on the mountain.

After dark on the first evening here, we were honoured by
a visit from Lekibes, the Masai Leibon of Leikipia, who, strange
to say, 1s not a thorough-bred Masai, but a Mkwafi from Guaso
Neishu, a former Wakwafi settlement in the highlands west of
Lake Baringo. Tall and strongly built, Lekibes’ dignified and
self-reliant manner accords well with his imposing appearance,
and testify to the great esteem in which men of his stamp are
heldin East Africa. Doubtless he owes something of his position
also to his shrewd intellect. He accounted for his arrival alone

A SHIFTY LEIBON 397

at this time of night by saying that a man of his importance
would have to bring a big following, if any, and as difficulties
might have arisen through the thoughtlessness of his men he
had come unattended in the darkness. The Count answered
quietly that he would have known how to deal with those
thoughtless men, and that if they had misbehaved themselves
they might have gone home with broken heads. Lekibes,
however, received some handsome presents, as we were not
only anxious that all should go peaceably and well with the
men left behind in camp, but also to get guides for ourselves,
and an elkonono, or smith, to make some Masai spears for us
in our own camp. Lekibes promised us everything we asked, :
as well as two cows he had forgotten to bring with him in his
hurry, and sure enough he appeared in camp the next morning
with a big train, including twenty-one women, all, he told us,
his own property, the guides, and the elkonono. The cows
were not there even now, but the Leibon said they would
come later. He proved himself avery cute fellow in the nego-
tiations which followed. He wanted to be paid in advance for
the guides he had brought with him, and said we were quite safe
in giving him their wages now, for ‘ Lekibes, the great Leibon,
vouched for them.’ Of course we would not agree to this, and
replied that he could not expect us to trust him, as he
evidently felt very little confidence in us. It was just the same
with the elkonono, who, he said, could make the spears in
Lekibes’ bumba, which of course meant that he would take the
material for them away, and that we should never set eyes on
it again. We were determined that the spears should be made
in our camp and under our supervision, to which Lekibes
finally appeared to agree, but he and his smith went off and
we never saw guides or elkonono again.

I must add a few words here about the native smiths or
elkonono, whom Joseph Thomson and H. H. Johnston both

598 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

think to belong to a separate tribe. My own opinion is that
the word elkonono means simply smith or handicraftsman.
There are very few elkonono in Masailand, which accounts for
the difficulty of getting spears there. These smiths are only
met with in very large kraals and densely populated districts ;
indeed, in all our travels we only saw the one mentioned
above, and, according to Lekibes, there are but two in the whole
of Leikipia. Of course it is impossible to judge of characteristics
of race if you have only seen one individual, but our one man
had not ‘ crooked legs,’ nor did he look ‘degraded’ or <‘ half
starved,’ and even Mpujui could not have distinguished him
‘from any other Masai moruo.

The man who was to have been my guide was far more
remarkable looking. Small and thin, he reminded me of the
Bushmen type, and when I got to know him better the resem-
blance struck me yet more. His skin was of a dark, dirty
yellow, and his hair not so frizzy as that of most negroes. His
name was Kandile, and according to his own account he
belonged to the Mumonyott tribe, which, some ten years ago,
had dwelt near Lake Lorian, and bred cattle, but had been
decimated in various wars, and the lttle remnant were now
dispersed amongst the Masai and other people of Leikipia.
Like the former rulers of that district, the Leukops, they are
now held in but little esteem.

At noon thirty-five of the men belonging to Mpujui’s
caravan came and pitched their tents quite close to our camp.
They too were in search of ivory, and their arrival must have
been anything but pleasant to Jumbe Kimemeta, but did not
affect the rest of us at all. The great trading caravans from
Mombasa generally keep together till they reach Lakes Naivasha
or Baringo, when scouring parties are sent in every direction, the
150 or 800 men for Leikipia branching off at Lake Naivasha,
and forming a head-quarters camp somewhere on the eastern

THE COUNT STARTS FOR LAKE BARINGO SII,

base of the Aberdare range, from which in its turn small parties
are despatched to different portions of the highlands in quest
of ivory. The various detachments of the Leikipia portion of
the caravan generally meet again at Miansini to wait for their
comrades, or, if they are strong enough, they march back to
Taveta or Little Arusha, never leaving these harbour refuges
till the whole force is reassembled and the final division of the
ivory can take place, this division corresponding with the
amount of goods for barter contributed by each sharer in the
venture.

We had very little intercourse with the natives here, as
they were all on the move. They brought nothing for sale,
but were willing to exchange oxen and barren cows for our
‘healthy young heifers and calves. The oxen we had brought
with us were such splendid fellows that I am afraid any
description of them would appear exaggerated. They were
covered with greyish-black hair, had short, massive horns, and
must, I think, have been originally brought from far away in
the north in some raid. We were unwilling to part with a
moderately large one even for six female goats or ewes.

Late in the evening of November 13 a number of Wando-
robbo came into camp for the first time to get their hongo.
The ivory traders are always very glad to give this, and Jumbe
Kimemeta at once took the visiters into the store tent, where
the secret dealings in tusks are always carried on.

On the morning of November 14 Count Teleki and _ his
party started in a westerly direction for Lake Baringo without
a guide, for, as already stated, the one promised him had dis-
appeared. As we should probably be separated for about four
weeks, I went a little way with him to talk over certain possible
eventualities, and then returned to camp to prepare for my
own trip to the Guaso Nyiro. I selected forty men to go with
me, which left behind twenty of our party and forty of Jumbe

400 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

Kimemeta’s, quite enough for all purposes. I left rations for
mneteen, and for my party took a number of healthy sheep
and goats and one grey donkey, in case it should be necessary
for any of us to ride. As guides I took Ali Schaongwe and
Juma Mussa. The latter was, it 1s true, an arch-liar, but he
was the only one of our men who knew anything about eastern
Leikipia. Of course my promised guide had not turned up
either, but this, according to Juma Mussa, mattered little, as
we had secured the services of a Leukop by presenting him
with a dawd, the nature of which cannot be described here.
This Leukop led us to the river, and once there we could not
fail to find Lake Lorian.

I did not know our Juma well enough then, and started the
next morning quite easy on the point of the right road to take.
The reader, however, who looks at the map accompanying these
volumes will wonder why we went so far south to get to the
Guaso Nyiro, but he must not forget that at this time that map
had no existence, and that we were, so to speak, wandering in the
dark, our difficulties being increased by the fact that Thomson,
the only traveller before us who had reached the river in ques-
tion, had wrongly supposed it to flow in an easterly direction
between Kenia and the Doenyo lol Deika. Anyhow, our guide
said he knew the way, and we followed him without hesitation.

We bore eastwards round the group of heights at the base
of which we had camped, and then southwards, as our guide
said we must go first to the Guaso Narok. But lightly loaded
we stepped briskly on, and in about three hours came to the
big kraal we had passed on our way to Subugo, where we
halted for a short time. The warriors had just returned from
a raid on the Wameru living on the north-east of Kikuyuland,
and were now most of them still overcome with fatigue. They
eathered about us, however, wrapped in their naiberes, and
were not at all aggressive ; indeed they seemed delighted to be

ON THE WAY TO THE GUASO NYIRO 401

able to relate their deeds of valour to the Lagomba. One moran
had killed three, another five Wakikuyu, and so on. But we
were in a hurry, and so resumed our march. We crossed the
Guaso Narok close to where we had camped with the whole
caravan a few days before, and then, with a M’ndorobbo to
guide us, pushed on under rather heavy rain to Mpujui’s camp,
which we reached about three o’clock in the afternoon.

A week ago this had been a deserted wilderness, but now
the camp was the centre of a scene of the greatest liveliness
and activity... Mpujui, or, as the Masai call him, Sukuta, did
not join me quite so soon as the other traders, for he had felt
it necessary to don in my honour his gala attire—a fine green
silk embroidered shirt. He was quite in his element here as
the leader of a big caravan, and seemed to be on the very best of
terms with the Masai. He told me at once that there were
a good many of them in the neighbourhood, that I could do
as I liked about giving a hongo, but his advice was that I
should make the moran a present of about a hundred strings
of beads just to ensure their goodwill. I replied that I was
quite ready to do so, and he at once summoned the warriors
with a commanding ‘ Totona !’ told them to squat down, and a
shauri began in which he held forth in fluent Masai at con-
siderable length. The beads were duly given, and the assembly
was broken up. Mpujui remained with me for a short time
afterwards till business called him away, and told me amongst
other things that he had managed on this trip to reach Leikipia
without paying a single hongo.

The next morning the Leukop led us first southwards
through wooded ravines and then in a north-easterly direction
chiefly across dry and often rugged steppes. We met a good
many parties of Masai, who delayed us again and again till we
managed to outstrip the last of them. We had to be very
careful in these encounters as our appearance startled their

VOL: I. DD

402 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

cattle, and we got a good many threatening looks on that
account. The laden oxen became specially restive, and some
of them managed to shake off their heavy clumsily piled-up
loads, turning over the milk cans and spilling their valuable con-
tents, or scattering the fodder in every direction, amidst terrible
cries of distress from the women in whose charge they were.

Towards noon we reached a small but rather deep brook, a
tributary of the Guaso Narok, and the northern outlet of the
Pes swamp, a small lake-like expansion of the Guaso Songoroi,
by which we had camped on our march to Subugo on Novem-
-ber 7. We could see the reed-grown lake a few miles off in the
south. Its shores and the banks of the brook, by which we
decided to camp, were lined with acacias.

The district was inhabited by a great many Masai, but the
only kraals near us were those of moruu, and the afternoon
passed over quietly. Juma Mussa, who had proved himself a
very clever manager, not only got us off paying any hongo but
astonished me with the present of a goat. He also secured _
another guide, as the first turned out quite useless.

The next morning we followed our new leader in an easterly
direction across a flat steppe, reaching in three hours two
ravines, evidently, from the swamp-grass growing in them, the
beds of intermittent streams. They were now quite dry, of
which we were glad, as our guide, who was a stubborn fellow,
insisted on our camping here, although we wished to push on.
We quietly waited whilst he went off to try and find water,
determined to start again if he was not successful. He failed
to discover even so much as a little mud, and presently, with
much grumbling he himself led us further. In oppressive
heat we hastened on for another three hours across a sandy
dreary steppe with here and there clumps of quite young
acacias, coming at last to an avenue of trees which we thought
must lead to water. We were wrong, and the disappointment

“HOUVIN HHL NO IVSVIN

GRAND VIEW OF KENIA AND THE ABERDARE RANGE 405

was the more bitter as the luxuriant vegetation had made us
certain we should soon be able to quench our thirst. We had
just decided to push on for the Guaso Nyiro at once, when most
fortunately two natives came up who told us there was a water
hole twenty minutes’ walk off on the north. We soon found it,
much to our delight, though it was no gurgling spring, but a
little pool of muddy water covered with a green film as thick
as a finger. We camped beside it.

We were now at a height of about 5,900 feet, nearly equidis-
tant from Kenia and the Aberdare chain, and able for the first
time to enjoy areally good view of both. From the top of one of
the little hills hard by the two mountain masses appeared doubly
erand and lofty, contrasting with the apparently immeasurable
undulating plain of Leikipia, which just now looked its best,
bathed as it wasin gleaming sunshine. Round us lay the barren
sunburnt steppe, whilst far away in the distance rose up the two
giant forms, their slopes clothed with woods, their peaks capped
with ice. Especially fascinating looked the snow-filled crater
of Kenia, and I was sorely tempted to leave the Guaso Nyiro to
pursue its unknown course alone and to desert it for the
mysterious heights of the unscaled volcano.

I spent the afternoon at a short distance from the camp at
my cartographical work, which I generally preferred doing in
the open air, taking with me in addition to the necessary instru-
ments a small table and chair so that I might be as comfortable
as possible. My two Swahili, Chuma and Baraka, knew all my
requirements exactly, and really surprised me by their care and
intelligence in the matter. I generally had Chuma with me on
these occasions. He was a native of Nyassa, only twenty years
old, and really quite a remarkable character. Earnest and quiet,
he was rarely known to talk to anybody, and he maintained
the same self-possession in face of danger. He had taken
ereat pains to study all my ways, knew how to set up the

406 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

various instruments, &c., and even how to manipulate them,
so that I could say quite shortly puma dschua (measure the
sun), pima milima (measure the mountain), or piga pitscha
(photograph), and walk off empty-handed, quite sure that
Chuma would bring all I needed. He always thought of
everything, and never once so much as asked me at an incon-
venient time if I had matches enough with me. He generally
stopped beside me whilst 1 was at work, either to help me
or to keep guard against my being disturbed, but if I was
very near the camp or in an open plain, I sometimes sent him
home.

He was not with me on this occasion, and I was so absorbed
in my contemplation of Kenia that a herd of zebras came quite
close to me before I observed them. The district was as flat as
a mown field, and | was myself quite taken aback when I saw
them all slowly wending their way to the pool in sleepy fashion,
with drooping heads. They did not see me at first, and I had
already seized my gun before they looked up; too late! for
their leader paid for his carelessness with his life.

It was evident that our pool was the only water in the
neighbourhood, as vast herds of antelopes and zebras came
here to try and quench their thirst. They could not, however,
get through our camp, which was between them and the water,
and the zebras expressed their distress by loud neighing. They
and the antelopes did not disperse until, as night fell, beasts of
prey came forth from their lairs. One lion remained a long
time the other side of our pond, evidently with an eye to
our donkeys, and our men were in a great state of alarm nearly
all night, holding their guns in readiness to fire a salvo if
necessary. I heard nothing about it all till the morning, as
I slept very soundly after my hard day’s work, and all negroes
have a kind of religious dread of disturbing anyone’s sleep, a
fact to which I owed many a good rest. My man Chuma, who

A CHOIR OF MASAI GIRLS AOT

was the very type of an obedient slave, would not dream,
whatever the emergency, of waking me roughly, and sometimes
when half asleep I had heard him trying to rouse me by
whispering quite softly ‘Bwana, Bwana, again and again. I
now gave Schaonegwe the strictest orders to call me, if necessary,
at any hour of the night, and to keep me informed of every-
thing that occurred. |

The first hour of the next day’s march was along the upper
edge of a small but deep valley with an occasional shght trend
westwards. We then went down into the valley and followed
its winding course till we came to its junction with that of the
Guaso Nyiro. So far the soil had been volcanic and strewn
with lava, ashes, and other débris, but as we went down this
valley we began to crunch white quartz-sand under our feet,
and presently came to masses of the primary rock. As before
on the Dariama, we noted a corresponding change in the flora,
marking the transition from the one geological formation to
the other.

A little winding stream flows into the valley from the north,
and we were soon walking on soft sward beneath the shade of
wide-spreading trees, and thick evergreen bush. Inthe course
of a single hour we had left the barren steppes behind, and as
in some transformation scene, found ourselves in a kind of park,
enlivened by the twitterimg of numerous birds with plumage
of every hue.

We met many Masai with their herds in the valley, and
passed one already inhabited kraal. Halting for a short rest
near it, we were welcomed by a perfect choir of girls, who,
like the gipsies of home memories, took up the song one after
the other. But our hearts were not to be softened now, we
must press on. Just as we were entering a valley a little later,
we came upon a group of Masai moran at a meal. They all
looked up and seemed startled at the sudden appearance of a

408 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

caravan, and Juma Mussa, who was in front, swerved aside as if
he had seen a viper in the path and was going to run off, when
a loud ‘Forward ! straight on!’ from me made him resume his
course, but it was with pale cheeks and shaking lhmbs, for it
is well-known and has been remarked on by Joseph Thomson
that Masai warriors object strongly to being seen to eat.
Juma Mussa was a strange mixture of courage and cowardice ;
a Hercules in strength, he was yet terribly afraid of us Euro-
peans and of wild animals. He would tremble like an aspen leaf
if he had to go first through thick bush or was summoned to
appear before either of us. Probably his evil conscience—he

was a terrible rascal—was the cause, and he had a perfect
horror of the corporal punishment he knew he deserved. In
the present instance his terrors were unfounded, for the
warriors, who had just cut up and divided an ox, were too busy
to honour us with more than a glance.

Towards ten o’clock we at last reached the Guaso Nyiro,
and camped on its banks at a height of about 5,558 feet. It
was here a rapid stream some three and a half to six feet deep
and from ten to twenty yards wide, so that we could not have
crossed it had we wished to do so. As we might expect a
creat many natives to visit us here, we at once began setting
up our fence, and thanks probably to the heavy rain which
soon began, we had finished it before any one appeared.
When at last forty or fifty warriors came to see us, Juma
Mussa showed that he knew the Masai language as well as the
country, and made a great impression on our visitors by the long
dignified speech with which he received them. He then told
their Lygonani to come into camp as the representative of the
party, handed him the tribute, and managed to bribe him on
the quiet by saying, ‘If these hundred strings of beads are
accepted as hongo enough, you shall have two strings of
beautiful ukuta beads and a naibere for yourself.’ This was

JUMA BRIBES THE LYGONANI 409

too much for the Lygonani to resist, and we got off very
cheaply in consequence. |

Another advantage of Juma’s tactics was that the Lygonani
sent his comrades off soon afterwards, so as to get his bribe un-
observed. <A few hours later, however, another warrior came
into camp alone and said he was the real Lygonani of the district

MASAI MORAN PAINTING THEIR SHIELDS.

and must have his present. He was very self-possessed, and he
may have been right, but we knew better than to be made to
pay twice over, so we settled him with the reply that fifty Masai
had combined to call the other man their Lygonani, and how
could he expect us to believe the word of one against so
many.

We had heard that the loam-coloured waters of the Guaso

410 ACROSS LEIKIPTA

Nyiro were rich in fish, and we soon found it to be true, for
with three rods only we landed some twenty big fellows in a
very short time.

A Neukop, who claimed to know the district well, offered
himself here as a guide, and we engaged him the more readily
as we could now send the two first guides home. A little dif-
ficulty arose about our doing so, however, as no native ever
likes to go with a caravan alone, being always afraid lest he
should some day be deserted. When our Leukop found his
predecessors were going he wanted to back out of his bargain,
but we took his weapon away, threatened him with various
penalties, and so brought him round. Later we had cause to
regret our eagerness to push forward, but the scarcity of our
provisions gave us no choice.

Our new guide led us no further by the river, but across
the plateau, along the eastern edge of which the Guaso Nyiro
flows in a northerly direction. He was a sensible fellow, and
seemed to know the whole neighbourhood by heart, for he told
us the names of the various mountain chains and peaks in sight.
Throughout the whole of this march we enjoyed a grand view
of the Doenyo lol Deika and the landscape between it and us.
The Pigtail Peak appeared really to consist of a row of rugged
heights running nearly north and south, with no connection with
Mount Kenia, although from our position they seemed to start
from its northern base. Very dreary and forbidding looked
Gadormurtu, as the district between us and them is called ; steep
clif-like hills and hiliocks risme up abruptly from the barren
slopes which run down westwards from the Doenyo lol Deika
to the river; the shadows cast from these rigid corpse-like
forms giving the whole scene a most weird and melancholy
appearance, not unlike that of the surface of the moon when
seen through a telescope, but without the craters so numerous
on it. The smaller heights evidently consist of eneiss, which

INSECTS OF LEIKIPIA AT

is very probably also the material of the main range. Vege-
tation was entirely absent except in the ravine through which
flowed the Ngare Nyuki, the course of which, from its rise
half-way from Kenia to its mouth in the Ngare Nyiro, we
could trace quite distinctly.

The Guaso Nyiro forms the eastern boundary of the district
inhabited by the Masai, and beyond it the landscape appears
to be deserted alike by wild animals and man. ‘True, we saw
several Masai kraals on the left bank of the river, but they had
evidently not been occupied for years.

By a little half-dried-up brook, which we reached after
many hours’ tramp, we came upon a few elands, gazelle
Thomsonii, and ostriches. Wealso added to our entomological
collection. So far the insects we had noticed in Leikipia had
been merely common house-flies and a large kind of dragon-fly,
but on the isolated acacia bushes by this stream we found
numerous examples of the Buprestis beetle, more than two
inches leng, and we caught a tree-frog spotted with black and
white.’ Towards midday our obliging guide suggested a halt,
dnd led us towards the river. As soon as we had left the
volcanic plateau we again noticed the gleaming quartzy sand,
and the somewhat varied flora resembled that of the now almost
forgotten Nyika districts, including two kinds of Sanseviera, the
Sanseviera cylindrica and another probably new species, thorny
acacias, with isolated morio trees, cactus-like euphorbias, small
aloes, the red flowers of which were just coming out, and by
the river itself a beautiful lly with large sword-shaped leaves
and small blossoms. We also noticed the spoors of numerous
rhinoceroses. The Guaso Nyiro tumbled rapidly along over its
bed of coarse-grained pink gneiss, and we knew we were not
likely to get any fish here. We threw out our lines, but in vain.

' Recognised by Dr. G. Steindachner as a new species, and named Megalixalus
pantherinus.

AT? ACROSS LEIKIPIA

We saw the tusk of a hippopotamus on the bank, and we therefore
hoped to get a shot at one, but no such creatures appeared.
The next morning I received the unwelcome news that our
eulde, who shared Juma Mussa’s hut, had gone off, leaving all
his belongings behind him. This loss was most inconvenient
to us, but there was a deserted kraal not far off in which he
might have taken refuge, and I had it searched at once. He
was not there, and we had to push on without him, which was
anything but easy ; we had the river before us, it is true, but
we did not know which way it flowed, and I had no wish to
follow it in all its windings. It would be enough for me to get
a general notion of its course. Its banks were, moreover,
encumbered with an impenetrable thicket, consisting chiefly of
branched euphorbias, aloes with red flowers, and a leafless bush
yielding a milky sap, with heht green cylindrical branches ter-
minating in two or three little red balls forming the fruit, the
whole vegetation welded into a compact mass by countless
creepers, &c., so that we were obliged to be content with march-
ing outside the belt, and found ourselves getting farther and
farther away from the water. Presently, however, we reached
a little gneiss hill, from the top of which we spied a good path
leading down to the river, of which we at once availed ourselves.
An hour later we were back at the Nyiro, near a clump of beauti-
ful trees, chiefly acacias and sycamores, from which hung many
beehives—we counted seventy—of the usual cylindrical form,
made out of pieces of the stem of the branched euphorbia.
The hives were empty, but their presence proved not only that
there were Wandorobbo somewhere near, but also that there
must be paths along the river leading to and from the hives.
And presently Juma Mussa brought the news that he had
found a path, a good clear one, along the side of the river,
which had, as proved by the ashes, &c., with which it was
strewn, but recently been used by natives. I must add

A DESERTED WANDOROBBO VILLAGE 413

that the Wandorobbo always carry smouldering wood with
them in their travels for smoking out their bees, or getting a
fire for cooking their food.

We followed this path, but as it led between banks from
thirty to forty feet high we saw nothing of our surroundings,
and might have passed quite lofty mountains without noticing
them. Now and then we fired in the air in the hope of
attracting the attention of the Wandorobbo, but we saw none
of them till we had camped, which we did at mid-day. Soon
after that two natives appeared, but though we made them
presents they would not stop long, only telling us before they
left that we should reach the junction of the Guaso Narok
with the Guaso Nyiro the next day, and that there was a
Wandorobbo village near to it.

In the afternoon I set off to try and find some point from
which I could get a view, and to my great surprise discovered
that a number of paths led through the thicket, winding back-
wards and forwards in such a confusing manner, however, that
soon I really hardly knew which way I had come myself. As
I was still in the labyrinth after an hour’s march, I gave up the
attempt to penetrate through it, and made for a deserted Wa-
ndorobbo village which I had noted earlier, but the approach
to it was so barricaded with euphorbias and creepers that I was
baulked again. I was able to note, however, that the still well-
preserved huts were placed just where the vegetation allowed,
and that they resembled in general form those of the Masai, but
that they were much more carefully put together and neatly
finished off with a thin layer of grass instead of with cow-dung.

On November 21 we pushed on along the river, reaching
the mouth of the Guaso Narok in two hours. Not a sign was
to be seen of the Wandorobbo village we had heard of, so I
had a few signal shots fired. For some time no one came, but
presently two figures timidly approached from the other side

414 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

of the river. They gave satisfactory replies to our questions
about the position of the village, but would not show us the
way to it or even tell us where we could ford the stream, which
appeared almost impassable here.

I thought it best to go myself to the village with Juma
Mussa, whom | did not care to trust alone, and a rapid march
of three-quarters of an hour brought us to it, the ashes on the
eround guiding us as far as the thicket, where some natives,
who were collecting fuel, directed us further. They did not
seem either surprised or alarmed at our appearance. The
village, which was protected by a strong thorn hedge, was so
hidden by the thicket that it could scarcely be seen at all from
outside. The huts were set down without any attempt at
regularity. Near the entrance sat an old man mending a bee-
hive, and some children who were playing near him ran away
at our approach. Perfect stillness reigned in the village, a few
women and girls peeped shyly at us from between the huts, but
drew back if we looked towards them. ‘They resembled the
Masai women in every respect. But for these timid glances
not the shehtest notice was taken of us, the old man even going
on with his mending with perfect unconcern. As we wanted
to have a shauri to get information about the further course of
the Guaso Nyiro I begged the old fellow to call out some of the
men of the place, and slowly, one by one, a few at last appeared
and squatted down, but they did not so much as look at us or
utter a word of greeting. They really seemed to be all half
asleep. When eight men were assembled Juma Mussa seized
his orator’s club and, brandishing it, explained who we were,
whence we came, what we wanted, &c. Silently his audience
listened, not answering a word till the name Lorian struck
upon their ears; then they observed that it was a long way off,
twenty days’ journey perhaps. On that point they were agreed,
but whether this Lorian was a swamp or a lake they could not

ALONG THE GUASO NYIRO 415

say. Some thought, however, that it was the end of the Guaso
Nyiro, but all spoke by hearsay only ; not one of them had ever
seen the Lorian, and we could. not induce any of them to act as
guides even for one day.

We returned to our people, crossed the Guaso Narok at its
junction with the Guaso Nyiro, and pushed on along the river-
bank by paths well trodden by the Wandorobbo. The vege-
tation was much the same as before, thorny euphorbias pre-
ponderating, but just by the edge of the water were some fine
trees, including a few feather palms. For a distance of about
a mile and a quarter in the latter part of this march the bed of
the river assumed a very interesting form. Thus far it had
consisted of a rocky channel, varying in width from about
eleven to sixteen yards, but now it narrowed to a rift from
eight to ten feet wide between perpendicular walls of gneiss
from six to fifteen feet high.

We camped on the northern opening of this fissure on the
very edge of the rock, in spite of the deafening roar of the
seething water below, and just as I looked over, a crocodile, the
first I had seen, plunged into the stream.

We were now at a height of about 5,000 feet, and in the
thirty-one miles of the Guaso Nyiro so far explored its waters
had a fall of some 550 feet. The coarse-grained pink gneiss of
which so far its bed had been formed, now alternated with
a greyish-black and a very fine-grained variety of the same
material. We noticed numerous grey lizards with red or green
heads disporting themselves on the rocks.

We had been told that we should meet with no more Wa-
ndorobbo, and there were not any bee-hives in the trees, but
the ground was still strewn with ashes. The path led away
from the river, but we trusted to luck and followed it. To my
great disappointment it landed us presently amongst a confusion
of gneiss hillocks and hills, amidst which it was impossible

416 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

to find a way back to the Nyiro. The edge of the volcanic
plateau, which had been previously quite near the river bank,
now stretched far away from it in a westerly direction, and,
judging from the occurrence of metamorphic rocks in the deep
watercourses, there is little room for doubt that beneath the
layers of lava on the Leikipia plateau are formations similar
to those we had now to cross. In our march up hill and down
dale we never once caught sight of the river, though from many
a summit we got a splendid view of a wide-stretching landscape.

After a tramp of many hours we came upon a deserted
Wandorobbo village romantically situated in a thicket between
huge rocks of gneiss, reminding us very much of some robber
haunt in the Abruzzi. We examined the place with very ereat
interest, and found several huts in good preservation. The
discovery of this village was rather disheartening, as it made
us fear that we were a long way from the river. There were
plenty of animal tracks about, but no ash-strewn paths, so there
was nothing for it but to make a way eastwards for ourselves —
as best we could. We pressed on through thick and thin till
we reached a height, from the top of which we were able to
take our bearings, finding to our delight that the river valley
was just behind the next ridge. We went straight down to it
at once, and found the stream broad and rapid, though shallow.

It was some time before we decided on a suitable camping-
place, and more careful examination showed us that the
widening of the valley was purely local, the river above and
below this spot flowing in a narrow channel between steep
walls of rock, so that it was hopeless to attempt to follow its
course further. The barometer gave us some assistance in
determining the probable nature of this portion of the course
of the river, which during our mountain march had escaped
our notice. It now registered only 4,250, which represents a
fall of some 770 feet, so that for this stretch of about 18 miles

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its course must be almost uninterruptedly broken by cascades
and rapids.

As we should have to make our way further over the moun-
tains, and I had no wish to travel in the dark, I went off in the
afternoon with a few men to try and find a path. Beneath the
scorching rays of the sun we tramped about till we found a
height from which I could look down on the river, but I failed
to obtain any indications as to whether its further course was
eastward or westward. We had always made it a rule never to
consult anvone but Jumbe Kimemeta or Qualla, but as any
advice now could be but guesswork, I turned to Juma Mussa
and asked him, half in fun, which way he would go if he had to
lead the caravan, and he rephed without a moment’s hesitation
that he was quite sure the Guaso Nyiro flowed westward
behind a hill on the north to which he pointed, and that we
should soon come upon the river if we went in that direction.
Not believing a word he said, I yet decided to do as he sug-
gested, for at least he knew as much about it as I did myself!

So the next day we shouldered our packs and tramped
over stock and stone to the ridge behind which we hoped to
find our river again, passing by the way the spoors of numerous
rhinoceroses, and several elands and kobus antelopes, with an
antelope of an unknown species, very like the female of the
bush antelope. We did not however get a single shot. On
the mountain were a good many tree euphorbias and several
specimens of a very handsome dragon-tree bearing at the top of
stems from 2 to 4 inches thick, and from 9 to 18 feet high, a
crown of hght green leaves resembling a big bunch of stiff grass
stems. After a march of several hours we reached the ridge,
and eagerly climbed it, hoping to look down from the top on to
the river, but alas! we found ourselves on a dreary volcanic
plateau stretching far away on the north to the base of the
Loroghi chain, and on the west and north-west further than

EE Q

420 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

the eye could reach. A dreary scene, in which we sought in
vain for any trace of the river, which must, it seemed, flow
eastward after all. Annoyed with myself for having listened
to Juma Mussa, I now decided to take a northerly direction,
thinking that perhaps we should find the river again at the
base of the plateau. So off we hurried over the sandy steppe,
I much troubled in my mind as to whether we should find any
water in this dreary wilderness. Presently, however, a well-
trodden animal track cut across our path leading in an easterly
direction. Guessing that it would take us to water we turned into
it, passing a quite fresh hon-spoor, which stopped at a thicket
through which we had to pass. Much to Juma Mussa’s relief
I led the way now, hoping to get a shot at the lion, but I did
not see it after all. We came to the skeleton of a young male
elephant with the tusks still in the head, but Juma was so upset
by his terror of the unseen lion that he would have passed the
tusks if I had not called to him to take them out. ‘What
tusks ?’ was his only answer when I spoke to him.

The path got worse and worse, bending very soon in an
easterly, then in a south-easterly direction, maintaining the
latter till, to our great delight, after we had struggled over
ground torn up by big herds of buffaloes and stu eras, | it led
to the much longed-for river.

We were all very tired and out of heart at having made so
little progress after such strenuous efforts. We had nearly
exhausted our food, having only brought enough with us for
seven days, and as we could not rely on getting game in the
unknown districts between us and Lake Lorian, we were obliged
after all to give up hope of finding that sheet of water on this
trip. So I made up my mind to camp here, give the men a
well-earned day’s rest, and then go back. I thought I could
vo alone to some point of vantage and get a notion of the
further course of the stream.

WE FOLLOW THE GUASO NYIRO— 42]

On. July 24 I started with just enough men to carry the
instruments and the photographic apparatus, and followed the
bed of the river, which widened here and there, but was, as a
rule, squeezed in between such perpendicular walls of rock that
‘we had to troop along in single file close to the edge of the
foaming water. Ata bend of the stream, round a jutting-out
prominence, we climbed up the bank in the hope of discover-
ing a short cut, only to find our labour in vain as the bend was
quite unimportant. We made the pleasant discovery, how-
ever, that there remained now only one gneiss hill, some 760
feet high, of the range of heights which had given us so much
trouble, and from the top of it we should certainly be able to
get an extended view. So we went back to the river just to
quench our thirst, and then started on our climb. At the foot
of the hill we startled a quantity of game, beginning with a
solitary buffalo bull taking his noonday siesta, but who escaped,
as I did not notice him in time. I wounded several antelopes
with dark brown hair, probably kobus antelopes in their winter
clothing, but was prevented from following them by a rhino-
ceros dashing right acrossmy path. I brought the latter down,
made my men cover the body with bushes to keep off the
vultures, and pressed on.

The climb in the great heat was very exhausting, but I
was fully rewarded when I got to the top, for I was able to
look down upon a vast stretch of country, which [had hitherto
only seen piecemeal, and the general character of which I had
therefore not been able to ascertain. Round about us stretched
the highlands in which we had wandered the day before. Far
away in the south rose up Mount Kenia, and in close proximity
to it the low Doenyo lol Deika hill region. On the east and
north-east the horizon was bounded at a distance of from twenty-
five to thirty miles by a closely-packed row of mountains and
hills varying in height from about 3,300 to 3,700 feet. Not

ADF ACROSS LEIKIPIA

very far from us, on the north, we could see the rugged edge of
the volcanic plateau, stretching away eastward and enclosing
at a depth of some 600 feet a flat landscape, from which rose,
here and there, little isolated hills, many of them with steep
sides and table-hike summits. The mountain on which we stood
rose abruptly from the river, and was bounded on the east
by the gneiss highlands already so often mentioned. We
could see the Guaso Nyiro flowing along in an easterly direc-
tion and maintaining an equal breadth for about seven and
a half miles across the plain, but we could not make out
where it went after that, so 1 was unable to take the desired
observations, and we retraced our steps down the mountain.
The men loaded themselves with the flesh of the rhinoceros,
and at four o’clock we were back in camp, where we had long
been impatiently expected.

It had been a very hot and tiring day, and I was so tired
that I should have been glad of a rest myself. I decided to
try and return by the river-path, and so avoid all the circuitous
climbing. If this path were practicable, we should do the
march back in two or two and a half hours, and I could get a
rest that same day. So we started the next morning, hoping
to carry out this programme. All went well at first; the
morning was cool and fresh, the sun not penetrating into the
valley with its lofty protecting walls till later in the day, and
walking over the soft grass at the edge of the water under
the shade of mighty sycamores and acacias in full leaf was
simply delightful. On our left tumbled the loam-coloured
waters of the Guaso Nyiro, now in rapids, now in waterfalls
and cascades, the foam dashing up far above our heads. But
soon the valley grew narrower and more winding, whilst
the sides became steeper and more densely covered with thorny
euphorbias, aloes, acacias, and parasites. The beautiful trees
which had lined the banks disappeared ; perpendicular walls and

’ MY ILLNESS RETURNS 423

huge isolated blocks of rock were of more and more frequent
occurrence, and the river raged even more wildly in its encum-
bered bed, the spray from the foaming flood often dashing over
our heads.

Ever hoping each obstacle to be the last, we patiently
shoved and dragged the loads over the rocks, crept on all
fours, squeezed ourselves through cracks, cut paths in the bush,
or scaled some steep ridge to avoid absolutely insuperable
obstructions, till we were all simply exhausted. To advance or
to go back were equally impossible, and we envied Schaongwe
and another man, who had gone round by the mountains with
the donkey, which had been in no fit state for the route we
had taken.

We halted to take breath, and tried to put new heart into
our men, then struggled on again, arriving at last, after eleven
hours of strenuous effort, at the longed-for camp just as the
sun was setting. As each man went in he flung himself down
and slept till far on in the next day. Not one of us thought of
eating, though nothing had passed our lips since we started in
the morning.

With me the over-fatigue brought on an eruption accom-
panied by fever, and for a long time I could not sleep, one
meident or another of the terrible march haunting me. At
last I fell into a death-like slumber, from which I did not wake
till the afternoon of the next day. Perfect stillness reigned in
camp ; most of the men were still asleep. I was scarcely able
to take any food even now, and the next morning I was still
anything but fit for travelling. I decided to ride, and ordered
the donkey to be brought for me, only to find that another
man needed it worse than I did, so 1 crept along on foot with
my caravan to the mouth of the Guaso Narok, where we
camped again. On the march symptoms of a return of my old
complaint, dysentery, showed themselves, so I went straight to

494 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

bed, and made up my mind to rest the next day. I knew we
could reach Lare lol Morio in three marches, and thought we had
food enough for them, so that I could well spare the time to
recruit. But Iwas reckoning without my host, for Schaongwe
presently came to tell me that my men had not so much as a
bean amongst them. There remained intact but one day’s —
reserve provisions. Already uneasy at the return of my illness,
I now became really anxious, and sent the men down to the river
to fish. They caught nothing, but I had meanwhile become a
little better, so I gave orders for a start the next morning.

Led by two Masai moran, who had fortunately turned up
in the nick of time on their way to put the screw on some
Wandorobbo who were in their debt, we went along the Guaso
Narok to their kraal, near to which we camped. The district
was well inhabited, but few natives visited us.

With no suitable food, for milk was all I could take when
my troubles were upon me, I soon retired to bed, whilst the
men. tried to still the pangs of hunger with some tiny fish they
managed to catch, using their turbans and shirts as nets. I
fortunately managed to shoot a little green marmoset from my
bed, which gave them something rather more substantial to
eat. Juma Mussa bestirred himself to try and get me some
milk, and actually succeeded, how goodness only knows, in
persuading a moruo to bring me a big bowl of the precious
fluid, and I was ready enough to oblige the donor, who was
afraid I might boil it, by drinking it off in his presence.

Juma Mussa managed to secure a guide as well as the milk,
and the next day we were off again, leaving the stream on one
side and pressing on first round a chain of rugged gneiss hills,
and then across the undulating volcanic plateau in a south-
westerly direction by a fairly good path leading to the Guaso
Narok, which we reached again at noon.

[ halted a little before the end of this march to take our

Wik GEE BACK "TO-CAMP: AT LAST 425

bearings quietly, and what was my surprise at two stragglers
coming up presently driving a cow before them. To my
astonished question ‘ Mepatta wap?’ (*‘ Wherever did you get
her ?’) they shouted back ‘ Mambo kwa Muungu’ (‘The Lord
sent her’). It turned out that the animal really was a runaway,
-and as it had now begun to rain fast and no one was likely to
appear to claim her, I allowed her to be killed, duly paying for
her later, however.

‘MAMBO KWA MUUNGU, BWANA.’

There was still a hot march between us and the Lare lol
Morio camp. We had long had the Marmanett range in sight,
and eagerly longed for the cosy little palisade-protected camp
at the base of one of its spurs, but we did not reach it till five
oclock in the afternoon. Jumbe Kimemeta, Qualla, and the
rest of our men came out some little distance to meet us, and
I heartily wrung their outstretched hands, but i still had a

AAG ACROSS LEEKIPIA

suffering time before me, and was glad indeed to receive from
Qualla a big bowl of fresh, sweet milk, which he had thought-
fully secured for me. As soon as I could get away, I shut
myself up in my tent to enjoy it in peace.

The next morning Jumbe Kimemeta and Qualla entertained
me with a long account of what had happened during my
absence. All had gone on well on the whole. Soon after we
left, the last Masai had withdrawn, and the ivory business had
begun. Kimemeta was not altogether satisfied with the results,
as he had had to share what was brought with the little
caravan settled near ours. In his share, however, which
amounted to some 1,100 pounds, there were some tusks weigh-
ing from 90 to 110 pounds. One night a herd of elephants
had come down to drink, but had got off uninjured. As the
neighbourhood became more and more deserted by the natives,
the game had increased.

I was also told of the death of two of our men from
dysentery, and a raid made by some 800 or 1,000 Masai, who
had started intending to fall upon the people of Suk on the
north of Lake Baringo, in revenge for the carrying off by them
of a quantity of cattle from Leikipia six weeks before. Unfor-
tunately for the Masai, they could not agree as to the direction
to be taken, and separated into two parties, one turning back,
the other going to attack the Kamasia living on the west of
Lake Baringo, as they did not wish to have all their trouble
for nothing. But they got a warm reception there, and had
been seen hastening back in small detachments. According to
their own account, they had met with a well-organised resist-
ance, and had left behind some fifty dead.

Owing to the scarcity of our provisions it was absolutely
necessary that we should soon start again. True, we still had a
good many sheep and goats, but they must be reserved for an
emergency, and we had but two days’ rations of vegetable diet.

GENERAL CHARACTER OF LEIKIPIA A427

It would take at least a week to reach Lake Baringo, so I fixed
December 3 for the start, and to every one’s delight we were off
on that day in the direction of Nyemps, the name of which is to
the ears of the Zanzibaris as sweet as that of Taveta, and means
peace, rest, and, so at least we were told, fish, dhurra, eleusine,
gourds, and last, not least, warm nights—no little boon to our
poor men, who had been wandering for many months on short
rations in the cold, foggy highlands.

Before we leave Leikipia, however, | must add a few words
of description, such as it 1s difficult to embody in the account
of the actual march. My little trip to the Guaso Nyiro had
not been without geographical importance, but neither it nor
the previous excursions are of much use considered alone ; they
must be taken in connection with the experiences of our later
journey from Lake Baringo to the Loroghi chain.

We have already seen that the plateau of Leikipia is a
monotonous undulating tableland, broken on the south by
Mount Kenia and the Aberdare chain, which rise up like giants
in spite of the great altitude of the plain itself. The plateau
narrows between the two mountain masses to widen out again
towards the north, where it, more strictly speaking, merits the
name of a plateau, as the mountains on the frontier, which are
considerably lower than those mentioned above, interfere less
with its general uniformity. On the whole the northern and
southern portions are loftier than those on the east and west.
The average height of the plain, or rather of the two plains, for
the Guaso Narok cuts the plateau in two, is about 6,550 feet,
sinking in certain portions to some 5,250 and 4,250 feet. The
trend of the southern portion is north-easterly, whilst that of
the northern is south-westerly, the former running up into the
Aberdare range, whilst the latter becomes merged inthe northern
spurs of the Loroghi chain.

I have already more than once referred to Leikipia as of

428 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

volcanic formation, but, strictly speaking, I should have said
of volcanic origin, since it was evidently formed by the up-
heaval of a metamorphic substratum mixed with lava and
ashes. To the inquiry whence came all this volcanic débris
we must reply, not, as would be supposed, from Kenia, the
apparent volcanic storehouse of the district, but from the
declivities referred to above, though itis at present impossible
to say exactly where the craters are, or were, from which
issued the all-levelling streams. Kenia can only have affected
the southern portion of the plateau, and that in an altogether
minor degree; it was gradually built up, and thus assumed its
beautiful conical form. The trend of the two portions of the
plateau betrays the fact that the sources of all the debris with
which it is covered were somewhere in the south-west and
north-west of Leikipia, exactly where, however, still remains
to be discovered. The Aberdare, Subugia, and Marmanett
mountains are all of volcanic formation, the base of the
Loroghi chain alone consisting of primitive rock. Although
not one of these groups has a single peak of the crater form,
the eruptive force must have originated in them, and we can
only suppose that the distinctive volcanic forms must have
been destroyed in some terrific convulsion. The thorough ex-
amination of this mountain world, which was temporarily
forced into the background by the further exploration of Kenia,
should be the ultimate goal of the next expedition to Africa.

After this digression we will return to the caravan and
relate our march to Lake Baringo. The first day we climbed
over a low spur of the Marmanett mountains, entering a wide
valley overgrown with steppe grass, and camped for the night
inside the fence of Count Teleki’s old halting-place on the edge
of the bed of a brook, which had apparently quite recently
contained water. We found a few pools in a wood some
hundred paces further up.

THROUGH A RUGGED ROCKY PASS A429

I stopped here for the same reason probably as the Count
had done before me, namely, because I could not get a guide
and shrank from pressing on into the unknown with a heavily
laden caravan. ‘There were no natives about now, but two
large deserted moran kraals proved the valley to have been at
one time an important frontier district. JI sent Juma Mussa
and some of Jumbe Kimemeta’s men on to explore, and they
came back in the evening with the news that they had reached
the Count’s second camp. Juma Mussa was in such wonder-
fully good spirits that one would have thought he had beer
indulging in too much pombe, He declared that his delight
was merely at having caught sight of the gleaming surface of
Lake Baringo, and, though I did not believe him, I could not
help looking eagerly westward throughout our next day’s
march, in vain, of course, as the sides of the valley completely
obstructed the view.

The hills, which at first appeared to us mere inequalities of
the plain, often rose suddenly to a height of from 650 to 1,000
feet, with almost perpendicular precipices overhanging deep
ravines. Our way now led through a rugged rocky pass with
only a narrow outlet on the north, and deep down below us in
the midst of a wood the remains of Count Teleki’s camp were
pointed out tome. It seemed simply impossible to get to it,
but presently we discovered quite a good, if rough, zig-zag
path, and the descent was made without accident. The ravine
was thickly wooded, and in it rose a little brook which escaped
through the pass on the north. The spot was most romantically
beautiful, the walls of rock all but meeting overhead, so that
only a strip of the sky could be seen, and we were tempted to
wonder at anyone choosing this almost subterranean passage.
In the afternoon the breaking of a storm above us added yet
more to the charm of our camping-place, the thunder echoing
like a salvo of artillery from rock to rock. |

A430 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

It was all very charming, but presently came the question
how we were going to get out again. I had explored a bit of
the course of the brook and had come upon a pretty good
path which I thought was probably the one taken by Count
Teleki, but Juma Mussa was quite sure that another narrower
one, winding up the western side of the pass, was the right one
to take, and, remembering our experience in the ravines by the
Guaso Nyiro, I elected for the latter.

We began the same day by carrying the donkeys’ loads up
part of the way separately, and the next morning the men went
on in single file, for we could not hope to meet all together
again till we got to the top of the pass. We pressed for a long
time through tall grass saturated with rain, but not a sign of a
path could we see. Wet to the skin and shivering with cold we
paused to consult, and then made for a path we could see on
the next height to the north. Gasping for breath we struggled
up the steep mountain side till we gained the ridge, where a
splendid view rewarded us, moving even the usually indifferent
negroes to admiration. Ata little distance off in the north-west,
in the midst of a yellowish-green steppe, lay the glittering
expanse of Lake Baringo with its bays and coves, its low-lying
outlines defined as on a map, its one long island and its many
little islets. From where we stood, looking down upon the sheet
of water at our feet, the highlands sloped down in a series of
terraces of which we counted three; beyond the lake on the
plain on the south, dark green patches indicated forest, whilst
stretches of paler green told of reed-grown swamps, the whole
shut in by a dark wall of mountains, apparently of about the
same height as those on which we were.

Loud shouts greeted this cheering sight, which told us that
the end of our troubles was at hand. There lay Baringo, and
in the woods on its shores was Nyemps Mkubwa, the larger of
the two Wakwafi villages of that name. That green out there

LAKE BARINGO FROM THE HIGHLANDS OF LEIKIPIA,

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IN SIGHT OF NYEMPS 4350

on the south was a swamp, and near to its northern edge was
Nyemps Mdogo, or the smaller settlement. All this was pointed
out by Juma Mussa as eagerly as if the very promised land
were before us, and he wound up every statement with the
words ‘ Kescho Samaki, kescho ugali, kescho maboga, kescho
taschibba!’ (‘To-morrow there'll be fish, to-morrow there'll be
panada, to-morrow there'll be gourds, to-morrow our stomachs
will be full! ’)

When we had gazed our fill, we proceeded on our way,
chiefly close to the edge of a ravine some 1,000 feet deep,
following a well-trodden game track not unlike an Alpine path,
leading for a considerable distance at a uniform height to the
edge of the slope, where a cleft with a gentle trend led down
into a wide valley. On our way down we had been able to
search the districts below us for water, and had noted a little
fresh green patch, probably a spring, looking lke an oasis
amongst its dreary surroundings, at which we decided to camp.
We thought it very likely that Count Teleki, though he had
come by a different route, had been here before us, but we
found no traces of his caravan.

We started again the next morning in the best of spirits,
cut across the valley, coming to another one on the west,
separated from the first by a low ridge, and found ourselves at
the edge of the last terrace some 1,000 feet above the plain of
Nyemps. This last stage of our mountain journey was so very
steep that the greatest caution was needed, and we carefully
sought for the best place at which to make the descent. Pre-
sently we had but one long mass, stretching away for several
miles and rising up perpendicularly to a height of over 90 feet,
between us and the plain. We safely surmounted this last
obstruction, and pressed on over a barren sandy steppe to
a little invitine-looking acacia with fresh green foliage in
the distance. The sun was oppressively hot, and we paused for

VOL, I. Jag

4354 ACROSS LEIKIPIA

a time at two o'clock by a little reed-grown brook with turbid
shmy water to refresh ourselves with a bite and a sup, intend-
ing to press on again directly afterwards for the full flesh-pots
awaiting us but a short march away.

As we were resting an old native appeared, whom Juma
Mussa engaged as guide. News was, of course, first exchanged:
we had to say whence we came, and whither we were going ;
he to tell us where the camp of the Mzungu or white man was,
and what chance there might be of provisions. And when
Jumbe Kimemeta came up to me and hesitatingly whispered
‘Have you heard ?’ I guessed at once that there was no good
news. It turned out that there was no food to be had in
either of the villages, as there had been a famine in Kamasia,
generally the granary of the whole neighbourhood, and
all the corn had been long since consumed. The next
crops would not be ready for six or eight weeks. We learnt
further that the Count’s camp was at Nyemps Mdogo, but that
he himself was absent somewhere on the east of Lake Baringo
hunting, to get food for his men.

Our hopes were all dashed to the ground now, and there
was ho longer any need to hurry on to Nyemps, especially as
the Count was away, so instead of the expected ‘Haya safari ! ’
(‘ Forwards!’) came the order‘ Tua misigo na fanga kambi,’ or
‘Pitch the camp.’

Goodness only knew how long we might have to remain in
this dreary dusty neighbourhood, and the only thing to be
thankful for was that we had been so careful of our cattle in
spite of all our men had said against our sparing it so long.
Even when Jumbe Kimemeta had wanted me to yield, I had
stood firm and not an animal had been killed. Owing to the
bad news received, one ox less than I should otherwise have
allowed was slaughtered, but to make up for this I brought
down a kobus antelope and a bustard towards sunset by some

ARRIVAL AT NYEMPS MDOGO 435

lucky shots near the camp, it being too wet for me to go far
away to hunt.

There was a good deal more noise in the camp the next day
than I cared for, partly because it had poured all night and
our men were delighted to welcome the dawn, and partly
because a number of young natives from Nyemps Mkubwa had
come in, hearing of the arrival of a caravan with cattle. They
wanted to exchange their ivory for our cattle, and treated the
latter as if it were already their own, stroking and patting
the animals, and even quarrelling about them. We laughed at
them in our sleeves, but did not destroy their dreams, only
telling them to have patience and lead us to Nyemps Mdogo,
where we could discuss the matter further.

A distressing march of a couple of hours over a tract devoid
of grass and evidently generally sandy, though now amere sea
of mud, with a few isolated acacias here and there, brought us
to our camping-place near Nyemps Mdogo.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME

PRINTED BY
SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
LONDON

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